Co-hosted by the International Finance Corporation, the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC), and the provincial chapter of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the event aims to offer businesses an insight into trade mediation, as well as effective and safe settlement of trade disputes, thereby improving their competitiveness and enabling them to expand their markets. 

Participants learned about existing laws and the court’s support to settle trade disputes via arbitration and mediation mechanisms, several terms of the Code of Civil Procedure on recognising the outcomes of dispute reconciliation outside courts, and Decree No.22/2017/ND-CP on trade reconciliation. 

Trade arbitration is new to Vietnamese businesses as Decree No.22/2017-ND-CP was promulgated in February 2017 and the VIAC founded in May 2018. 

Phi Trong Duc, Director of the provincial VCCI chapter, said Vietnam ranked 66th out of 190 countries in terms of contract enforcement, and 29th in credit access in a survey recently conducted by the World Bank. 

The survey pointed out that Vietnamese firms now tend to choose trade arbitrators instead of seeking courts to settle disputes. 

Pham Thi Thanh Huyen, a senior finance expert in charge of IFC’s financial infrastructure development programme, said that trade arbitration is considered a feasible and effective way to deal with trade disputes, contributing to fostering trust amongst firms and the community.