The Asia-Pacific Arbitration Review 2016

Dispute Resolution / Legal insights | January 01, 2016 | By DZUNGSRT & ASSOCIATES

Vietnam

Accreditation: An extract from The Asia-Pacific Arbitration Review 2016 – http://globalarbitrationreview.com/reviews/asia-pacific-arbitration-review-2016/

Although arbitration first appeared in Vietnam in the 1960s in the forms of the State Economic Arbitration System (SEAS), the Foreign Trade Arbitration Committee (FTAC) and the Maritime Arbitration Committee (MAC), it was not until 1986 that arbitration activities in Vietnam began to actually flourish, owing to an
all-round renovation policy named Doi Moi.

This policy was promulgated with top priority given to economic reforms to create a multi-sector economy, attracting greater foreign investment and broadening the export market. As a result, Vietnam has signed 50 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and eight regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs). The 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York
Convention) was acceded to on 12 September 1995, with entry into force on 11 December 1995. With these significant changes, awareness of arbitration in Vietnam has increased and arbitration has gradually become a favoured mechanism for dispute settlement in transactions between Vietnamese parties and their international partners. According to the Preliminary Report on the Three Years of Implementation of the LCA of the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice (MOJ), from 2011 to 2013 the number of disputes resolved by arbitration increased sharply. The Vietnamese government also encourages the development of arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism by making efforts to synchronise laws on
arbitration with a pro-arbitration regime. Conferences, seminars and training courses sponsored by both Vietnamese government agencies and non-government institutions have been organised to improve the understanding of and provide necessary skills to local judges, arbitrators and Vietnamese enterprises.