Promoting international arbitration settlement in Vietnam

Arbitration is widely used to settle commercial disputes abroad and in order to settle growing disputes, Vietnamese businesses are being recommended to use arbitration instead of the courts to reach settlements. According to a survey by the Ministry of Justice, 57.8% of disputes were settled through informal negotiations, 46.8% through courts, 22.8% via reconciliation and just 16.9% via arbitration.

However many firms abroad prefer international arbitration. There are several reasons for this, including costs and prolonged time it takes to get a court settlement In addition, the verdicts reached through international arbitration are accepted on a global scale.

Many experts state that one of the measures to encourage Vietnamese companies to apply the arbitration method is court support for arbitration decisions.

"We have collaborated with institutions such as the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam and local courts to share experience in dispute resolution. The two sides together have developed a legal framework to support and supervise the arbitration practice", Phan Trọng Dat, Deputy Secretary General of Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC), said.

By the end of 2015, 12 international arbitration centres had been established in Vietnam with more than 350 arbitrators.

These centres have co-operated with international institutions such as the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Singapore Arbitration Centre to raise awareness among Vietnamese companies about the advantages of arbitration resolution.