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Vietnam Business Advisory Desk
Senior execution support for your Vietnam operation.
Market-entry execution, factory and operational setup, and interim leadership for international Groups establishing or transitioning a business in Vietnam.
A non-legal business advisory service of ECOVIS Vietnam, delivered and contracted by Orient Counsel Ltd. — separate from ECOVIS Vietnam Law.
When to use this
Three situations where Boards use the Desk
Entering Vietnam
The Group has approved the investment but needs senior local ownership of setup, sequencing and execution — someone accountable for turning an approved plan into a functioning entity on the ground.
Leadership transition
An acquisition, a planned handover, or an unexpected Country Manager or General Director departure creates a gap the permanent team is not yet ready to fill.
Headquarters-to-ground execution
The Board has a mandate and a timetable, but no local owner who can execute, report against it and hand over cleanly once the permanent structure is in place.
Services
How we support Vietnam operations
Each engagement is scoped, contracted and invoiced by Orient Counsel Ltd. Any required legal, tax, employment, immigration or licensing work is a separate, expressly identified workstream — coordinated where useful, never blended into a single undifferentiated deliverable.
Which mandate fits
Interim Director vs. Interim Operational Director
Appointment to either role is conditioned on corporate authority, Vietnam-law eligibility, work-permit and residence position, conflict review, and a documented authority matrix and handover process — confirmed case by case, not implied by this description.
Why this team
Board-level control, senior execution
Execution experience
Advisors have held operating, country-management or investment roles relevant to the mandate.
Board governance
Scope, authority, reporting cadence, reserved matters and handover are agreed before execution begins, not discovered during it.
Vietnam implementation
The team works across local vendors, talent and processes, coordinating transparent regulatory implementation through the appropriate legal and licensing workstreams rather than absorbing specialist legal, tax or immigration work.
ECOVIS continuity
Existing ECOVIS relationships and separate legal or tax workstreams can be coordinated for a Group already working with the network, without obscuring which entity delivers which service.
Who may lead the mandate
Four advisors, one designated engagement lead
How it works
Four steps, one designated engagement lead
Scoping
Situation, decision-maker, target state, timing and constraints.
Mandate design
Scope, deliverables, advisor, authority, reporting, duration and exclusions.
Execution
Agreed workplan, reporting cadence, issue escalation and specialist coordination.
Handover
Documentation, handover register, successor briefing and formal authority transition.
Proof
How a typical mandate runs
Engagement summaries are anonymised and simplified illustrations of typical mandates.
Manufacturing, foreign-invested, 150-250 employees
The Vietnam Country Manager departed with no notice. The Group Board needed a legally appointed Interim Director in place immediately to keep signing authority and banking operations running while a permanent successor was recruited.
Appointment completed with signing and banking authority maintained through the transition.
Industrial group, first Vietnam investment
Ahead of a Board budget decision, the investor needed a fast, clear read on legal structuring options, investment licensing and industrial-zone site choices for a first entry into Vietnam.
Coordinated a structuring and licensing roadmap, with Vietnamese legal analysis delivered separately by ECOVIS Vietnam Law, in time for the Board's internal decision deadline.
FAQ
Questions Boards ask before appointing us
Who contracts for the Business Advisory service, and how is legal work handled?
Orient Counsel Ltd. contracts and invoices for the Business Advisory service. Vietnamese legal work is a separate engagement with ECOVIS Vietnam Law.
When should a Board use an Interim Director rather than an Interim Operational Director?
Use an Interim Director where country/general management and, potentially, legal-representative authority are needed. Use an Interim Operational Director for COO-level execution without legal-representative status.
Can an Interim Director also be appointed as legal representative?
Only if expressly appointed and eligible under Vietnamese law, corporate authority and the agreed engagement — never assumed by default.
Can a foreigner act as interim General Director of a Vietnamese company before their work permit is issued?
This is a question of Vietnamese law, and the Desk — a non-legal advisory service — does not answer it. The legal framework on work-permit timing, exemptions and lawful interim arrangements is a matter for counsel: ECOVIS Vietnam Law, an independent licensed law firm, advises on it as part of operational compliance for foreign-invested companies. What the Desk does in practice is sequence the executive’s start date, the corporate filings and the on-the-ground workstreams around the legal advice received, so the project does not stall while the permit process runs.
How are authority, reporting and reserved matters documented?
Through a mandate design stage that fixes the authority matrix, reporting cadence and reserved matters before execution begins.
How long does a typical mandate last?
Duration is agreed at mandate design and tied to a defined handover point, not open-ended.
Is it a conflict of interest if the same group provides our legal counsel and our interim management in Vietnam?
It can be, which is why the two roles here are held by two separate entities under separate engagements. Legal advice is provided by ECOVIS Vietnam Law, an independent licensed law firm; execution and interim-management support is provided by the Vietnam Business Advisory Desk, operated by Orient Counsel Ltd., a business advisory company. Each engagement has its own engagement letter, scope, fees and invoicing, and legal-advice files are not shared with the Desk’s execution team — a separation recorded in both engagement letters.
This structure reduces, but does not eliminate, the residual conflict inherent in any affiliated arrangement — so clients are always free to retain independent legal counsel for any matter, including reviewing the Desk’s own engagement, and some do.
In the Desk’s experience, boards that ask this question are asking the right question: the answer to look for from any provider is a documented separation, not an assurance that no conflict exists.
Can we engage the Desk only and keep our existing Vietnamese law firm?
Yes — many clients do. The Desk has its own engagement letter, scope and invoicing, and works alongside your existing counsel.
Can the team support a new ECOVIS client?
Yes — the existing-client route above connects existing ECOVIS relationships; new clients scope through the same process.
What situations are outside scope?
Distressed-company turnaround, insolvency, permanent executive search, and unlimited delegation of corporate authority are outside scope.
What information is needed for the first scoping call?
The business situation, decision-maker, target state, timing and any known constraints.
Get in touch
Send an enquiry
Prefer to talk first
Email vietnam@ecovislaw.vn directly to reach a Senior Advisor. The inbox is monitored by the Desk intake team on behalf of Orient Counsel Ltd.
A note on entity
This enquiry is routed to Orient Counsel Ltd., which delivers the Vietnam Business Advisory Desk — a service of ECOVIS Vietnam, separate from ECOVIS Vietnam Law. This page is not legal advice.
Your Board does not need another general report. It needs a clear mandate, an accountable local owner and a handover the permanent team can use.
Discuss your Vietnam setup or transition with the Business Advisory Desk. Or email vietnam@ecovislaw.vn directly.
This page provides general information about business advisory and interim management services. It does not constitute legal, tax, accounting or other professional advice. Service availability, scope and any appointment or authority are subject to separate scoping, eligibility review and written engagement terms.
Vietnam Business Advisory Desk is a non-legal business advisory and interim management service delivered and contracted by Orient Counsel Ltd. Vietnamese legal advice is provided separately by ECOVIS Vietnam Law under a distinct engagement. Orient Counsel Ltd. (Công ty TNHH Orient Counsel, tax code 3701871402) — Unit SAV1.02.11, Tower 1, The Sun Avenue, 28 Mai Chi Tho Street, Binh Trung Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.
Last reviewed: 27 August 2026.