On April 2, the prime minister of Laos issued the Decision on the Policies and Measures to Reduce the Impact from the COVID-19 Pandemic. A number of the measures announced will affect locally established business operators.Relief Measures

Thailand’s Ministry of Labor is soon expected to issue two regulations and an announcement to formalize and implement the Social Security Office’s policy on COVID-19 assistance measures, reflecting two recent cabinet resolutions. Drafts are now being considered by the Office of the Council of State, after which they will be sent for the minister’s signature and announced in the Government Gazette. The following measures are expected to be announced:

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led Thailand’s Ministry of Finance, with the approval of the cabinet, to implement tax and non-tax relief measures to aid the general public, workers, and entrepreneurs. The tax relief measures, two phases of which have been released to date, are detailed below.Phase I Tax Relief Measures – March 10, 2020Reduction of withholding tax rates. This measure, which is already in effect, reduces withholding tax from 3% to 1.5% for the following types of payments made between April 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020:

On March 31, 2020, Vietnam issued Directive No. 16/CT-TTg of the Prime Minister of Vietnam, setting out a wide range of social distancing measures, which we covered in an earlier client alert (click here for details). Following this nationwide announcement, local authorities in various provinces and cities have released their own guidance on implementation of measures for preventing and controlling the COVID-19 outbreak.

On March 27, 2020, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) issued a directive to all banks and financial institutions to restructure loans in order to maintain financial stability, support economic activity, and ease the burden of debtors facing major revenue declines who may find it difficult to repay loans during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.  

Jay Cohen, partner and director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ office in Phnom Penh, has authored the Cambodia chapter of the Asian Business Law Institute  (ABLI ) Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency in Asia 2020 guide. This comprehensive guide aims to help companies easily navigate the diverse legal regimes in Asia surrounding restructuring and insolvency while facing times of adversity—such as those presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Bank of Lao PDR (BOL) has issued guidelines to provide relief to debtors affected by the current crisis. The Decision on Policy in respect of Loans to Provide Remedial Measures Due to the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic no.238/BOL, dated March 26, 2020, aims to assist individuals and legal entities that have contracted with Lao commercial banks and financial institutions on loan agreements, and for whom the originally agreed upon repayment terms can no longer be met due to the COVID-19 crisis.

On March 18, 2020, Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training issued Circular No. 04/2020/TT-BGDDT detailing a number of articles of the Government’s Decree No. 86/2018/ND-CP dated 6 June 2018 on Foreign Cooperation and Investment in Education (“Circular 4”). Circular 4 will take effect on May 5, 2020, and sets out, among other things, new requirements for international schools to provide compulsory Vietnamese language and culture studies to Vietnamese students.