The number of service contracts involving foreign elements has kept increasing in Vietnam. However, it remains hard to determine the law applicable to this kind of contract. This article focuses on issues related to the determination of the applicable law for service contracts involving foreign elements and proposes solutions for improving relevant regulations.

Three types of dispute qualify for arbitration in Vietnam. Firstly, disputes involving “commercial activity” can be arbitrated. Commercial activity is any “activity with a profit-making purpose comprising the purchase and sale of goods, provision of services, investment, commercial enhancement, and other activities for profit-making purposes.” Secondly, arbitration is allowed if one party to the contract is engaged in a commercial activity, say, a vendor in a dispute with a customer. Finally, the law requires that some disputes be settled by arbitration. Disputes that are specifically stipulated by law also qualify for arbitration. For example, contracts that relate to investments under the 2014 Law on Investment, qualify for arbitration. Arbitration is not a general right. Use of arbitration is subject to agreement. That is, the parties have to agree to arbitrate. Agreement to arbitrate can be made in any written form. The agreement may be part of an underlying agreement that is itself in dispute or it may be a separate agreement to arbitrate. Any modification, extension, termination, or invalidity of the contract will not affect the arbitration clause. This follows the separability doctrine of the New York Convention.

The legislative basis for mediation is noted to improve and countries, such as Vietnam, have pursued mediation reforms as a response to contemporary demands.

Vietnam on July 12 welcomed the final ruling issued by an international tribunal in The Hague, which rejected China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea (East Sea).

On October 29, 2015, the Arbitral Tribunal (the Tribunal) constituted under Annex VII to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) to settle the East Sea (West Philippines Sea (WPS) by Filippinos)-related case filed by the Republic of the Philippines (the Philippines) against the People’s Republic of China (China), issued an Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility.

In recent years, Vietnam’s growing economy and socio-economic development has led to an increased need for new investment in infrastructure projects and their operation.

Recent years have brought substantial economic growth and development throughout the ASEAN region and beyond, particularly in emerging markets like Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, among others.

Business Cooperation Contract, also known as “BCC”, is considered one of the direct investment forms that have been first introduced in the Law on Foreign Investment of Vietnam in 1988 and respectively regulated in numerous amendments to this law until the Law on Investment was enacted in 2005.

The Law on Commercial Arbitration will be considered by the National Assembly in its current session. Tran Huu Huynh, Director of the Legal Department of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vice President of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center, and a consultant on the drafting of the law, spoke to Vietnam Law & Legal Forum.