International Investment Dispute Resolution in Vietnam: Opportunities and Challenges

What is it about?

International Investment Treaties and Arbitration Across Asia brings together leading academics and practitioners to examine whether and how the Asian region has or may become a significant ‘rule maker’ in contemporary international investment law and dispute resolution. The editors introduce FDI trends and regulations, investment treaties and arbitration across Asia. Authors add country studies for the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as an overview of ASEAN treaties or examine another potential ‘middle powers’ (Korea, Australia and New Zealand collectively) and the emerging ‘big players’ (China, Japan and India). Two early chapters present econometric studies of treaty impact on FDI flows, in aggregate and Thailand, while two concluding chapters offer other normative and forward-looking perspectives.

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Photo by Ammie Ngo on Unsplash

Photo by Ammie Ngo on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Integration into the global market brings both challenges and opportunities for the Vietnamese legal system. Since investment dispute prevention and settlement have not received much concern from the Vietnamese government, it has often experienced difficulties in dispute resolution when faced with investment claims. The reluctance to recognise and enforce foreign arbitral awards in Vietnam to protect local parties has also resulted in a number of commercial disputes escalating into investment treaty claims. Nonetheless, these experiences have allowed Vietnam to identify some defects in its legal framework, human resources and governance, and prompted the government to take measures to reduce the risk of being sued by foreign investors. Even though the effectiveness of the measures has not yet been proven, investment disputes do bring some opportunities as well as challenges for Vietnam.