INTERVIEW DS AVOCATS
1. What made you / your company decided to develop in Asian market especially in Vietnam?
DS Avocats is an international law firm with a strong presence in Asia. As a European firm, with 29 offices and 13 international desks worldwide, it offers legal services to clients with almost global reach. Additionally, from its Spanish offices in Barcelona and Madrid, and in coordination with DS Avocats’ Asian offices and desks (Vietnam, Singapore, China, Indonesia, India, and Japan), we can support Spanish companies with interests in Asia in general, and Vietnam in particular through our local team and offices located in Ho Chi Minh City.
2. How has your professional career or your company’s career developed since then? As far as your sector stands today, what services DS Avocats offers to their clients?
DS Avocats provides support for all types of international business projects in Asia. In particular, we have extensive experience assisting European companies in developing the Asian market, both at very early stages of market exploration and at more advanced stages by offering ongoing legal support to subsidiaries or branches, legal negotiations with local suppliers, formalization of partnerships or joint ventures, investment operations (M&A), adaptation of compliance systems or data protection frameworks to local jurisdictions, and goods shipment, among others. In this way, our approach goes beyond mere legal advice, offering comprehensive legal support throughout the business development process. This includes not only directly advising the company but also coordinating with its local legal advisors in the country of origin to provide specialized technical assistance in the relevant jurisdiction. We also support Asian projects seeking to expand into other regions, offering our clients access to our 29 offices, 13 international desks, and an international team of more than 400 legal professionals.
3. What do you think are the biggest challenges for this sector in the future?
The legal advisory sector focused on international business faces two major challenges: (i) on the one hand, the exponential increase in multi-sector regulations across different jurisdictions, which requires the sector to rely on specialists with the appropriate expertise in each area/sector and for each jurisdiction; and (ii) on the other hand, the relentless advancement of technology, particularly advanced artificial intelligence models, which are emerging as essential tools for both companies and legal advisors. In this context, we believe that one of the key value-added aspects of providing legal advisory services is offering clients a point of contact with whom they share cultural and linguistic proximity. This is why our Spanish team is actively involved in developing the Spanish market in Asia.
4. What type of promotional and communication campaigns do you work on?
In our goal to develop the Spanish market in Asia, we plan to regularly carry out informational initiatives such as seminars, webinars, newsletters, briefing notes, and similar activities. Additionally, we aim to engage, as much as possible, with Spanish business institutions such as chambers of commerce, representative offices and economic delegations. Likewise, in general terms, we are open to any collaboration proposed by international companies with a presence in Asia.
5. What is your advice to companies interested in your services?
Any international company that may directly or indirectly require legal support in Asia can contact any member of our team to arrange a meeting or video call, allowing us to assess their specific legal needs.
6. Please tell us a little about future plans of your company in Vietnam.
Our main objective is to position ourselves as one of the leading Spanish law firms in Spain-Asia relations, with a dual goal: (i) to facilitate the internationalization of Spanish companies in Asia by providing reliable legal advice tailored to their specific circumstances, with culturally and linguistically proximate communication; and (ii) to attract Asian investment to Spain through a law firm with extensive experience in advising foreign entities in Spain.
Many thanks to DS AVOCATS for sharing your experience with us. For futher information, you can visit the company’s website here: https://www.dsavocats.com/en/offices/ho-chi-minh-city-en/