Foreign investors are likely to be permitted to join hands with Vietnamese partners to set up air carriers in Vietnam, local newspaper Saigon Liberation reported Monday.

Under a draft decree on guiding the implementation of the newly- approved Civil Aviation Law, foreign investors can establish airlines if the airlines' representatives are Vietnamese people. The draft also encourages individuals to participate in the field.

Enterprises eligible for doing aviation business must have legal capital of 80-480 billion Vietnamese dong (US$5-30.2 million) and exploit at least one aircraft which has been used for no more than 10 years, said the draft.

The number of foreigners in the airline's management board should not exceed one-third of the total membership, while foreign capital should not exceed 49 percent of the airline's registered capital.

The Vietnamese prime minister will consider licensing an airline under a proposal of the Transport Ministry within two months since investors submit all relevant documents.

Vietnam's aviation sector served over 4.9 million domestic and foreign passengers and 80,400 tons of cargoes in the first eight months of this year, registering year-on-year rises of 13.1 percent and 14.4 percent respectively, according to the country's General Statistics Office.

(Xinhua News Agency September 11, 2006)