The Viet Nam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC) and the International Finance Corporation organised a workshop on trade mediation in HCM City on Wednesday.

International integration and the frequent economic and trade disputes require mechanisms that can resolve the disputes.

A failure to resolve them will affect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises that enter into contracts.

To provide enterprises with an alternative to going to court, the authorities issued a commercial mediation policy.

The Government’s Decree No 22 on commercial mediation took effect last April.

The country is aiming to put in place a legislative and regulatory framework to ensure consistency between its laws and international regulations on commercial dispute resolution.

The decree has made conciliation activities more concise and flexible, creating a legal basis for trade conciliation and other professional activities.

Experts are encouraged to resolve some disputes through negotiation and arbitration. The role of the courts is to enforce the decisions the disputants arrive at.

Reviewing the mechanism of commercial conciliation in Viet Nam, Nina Mocheva, a senior finance specialist at the World Bank, said Viet Nam has taken the important step of having a legal framework for the settlement of commercial disputes through conciliation and arbitration.

However, international experience shows that when commercial conciliation begins, the legal community may be reluctant to pursue more litigation, meaning it takes time to overcome the constraints, she said.

Therefore, it is necessary to help authorities and enterprises develop a favourable trade environment, she said.

The VIAC has also found that since many business entities in Viet Nam are small or medium-sized, they tend to approach civilian instead of arbitration courts, and this has hindered the growth of this commercial mediation method. — VNS