Vietnam International Commercial Mediation Center (VICMC), the first of its kind founded under a license of the Ministry of Justice, has officially launched in Hanoi.

Launching ceremony

Nguyen Hung Quang, president of VICMC and a member of the Vietnam Society of International Law (VSIL), explained “The mission and vision of VICMC is to build up professionalism and implement non-profit activities in accordance with the principles and the goals of the Vietnam Society of International Law (VSIL) and VICMC.” Commercial dispute settlement at court in Vietnam currently takes businesses about 250 days. The VICMC cuts this down to between one to seven days. Currently, Vietnam has some arbitration centres offering commercial mediation services. The number of commercial disputes settled by commercial mediation remains modest. In facts, businesses in Vietnam are not fully aware of the advantages of commercial mediation. At the launching ceremony, Dang Hoang Oanh, deputy minister of justice praised the efforts and coordination among related ministries, sectors and organizations in establishing the centre. Ms Oanh said she hoped that VICMC and its members will make greater efforts to be professional, independent and fair in mediation activities, contributing to improving the business environment in Vietnam. Ms Oanh explained, “Using mediation to settle civil and commercial disputes is a popular trend in the world. Mediation has a number of advantages in dispute settlement. Thus, Vietnam should follow this.”

Cooperation agreement

Ms Oanh said, “The Ministry of Justice will work together with VICMC in its activities in particular, and mediation activities in Vietnam in general.” In addition to mediation activities, VICMC will also perform its social responsibility through mediation training, study and promotion of mediation activities in Vietnam. As part of the launch, VICMC signed cooperation agreements with the faculties of law of Hanoi National University and Foreign Trade University. VICMC is established and operates for non-profit purposes, offering alternative approaches to non-litigation settlement of commercial disputes among businesses and investors.