A worker assembles a scooter engine at Piaggio Viet Nam. FDI businesses in Viet Nam will soon be able to open investment accounts in either foreign currencies or Vietnamese dong. — Photo Reuters/talkvietnam.com

HA NOI (Biz Hub) ― Foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises and foreign investors taking part in business co-operation contracts (BCC) in Viet Nam will soon be able to open investment accounts at authorised banks in either foreign currencies or Vietnamese dong.

The update is stipulated in a draft circular on foreign exchange management related to FDI activities, recently unveiled by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).

Existing regulations only allow such accounts to be opened in foreign currencies, a rule that is no longer suitable to investors' capital contribution practices, the central bank says in a note.

The draft states that foreign investors can use legal revenues from their direct investments in Viet Nam for reinvestments. It stresses that money transfers must be made through the accounts for income and expenditure, as well as covering capital withdrawal and overseas debt payments.

FDI investors will be able to move money abroad. The money can be equities, or finances from reinvestment, project transfer and liquidation, or profits and other legal incomes from domestic investments.

The nation's latest Ordinance on Foreign Exchange, issued in March, said opening investment accounts was compulsory for FDI enterprises and BCC investors. A new circular with specific guidelines is necessary for comprehensive and transparent management of FDI capital flows, the SBV says.

It will enable stronger State Bank supervision and more efficient solutions to investment problems, it adds. ― VNS