Tran Ngoc Liem, Deputy Director of the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s HCM City office, said greatereconomic integration brings Vietnamese enterprises both opportunities and anincreasing number of commercial disputes.
With courts overburdened with a huge amountof lawsuits, enterprises should consider using mediation and arbitration toresolve commercial disputes to save time, he said.
He stressed mediation is a civilised way toresolve conflicts and is used by more and more businesses around the world.
After the Government issued Decree No 22last year, Vietnam has become the second country in Southeast Asia afterSingapore to have regulations for commercial mediation, he said.
The Vietnam Mediation Centre (VMC) was alsoestablished under the decree. Though the number of enterprises that know aboutthe centre is still small, a VCCI survey found enterprises receptive to andvery positive about mediation, he said.
Phan Trong Dat, Deputy Secretary General ofthe Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC) and Deputy Director of theVMC, said mediation is appropriate for Asian culture since Asians prefer tosettle disputes in a peaceful way.
According to Dat, mediation is simply anegotiation with the participation of an independent mediator who can help bothparties discuss their matter and reach their own agreement.
He said the rate of successful mediationcases is very high in foreign countries since businesses always want to settledisputes as soon as possible.
He said with a regulatory framework forcommercial mediation in place and the setting up of a mediation centre,enterprises have started looking at it. At the moment, there is a significantnumber of enterprises coming to the VMC and consulting on drafting mediationforms.
“Though we have not handled any mediationcase yet, I believe this method will be preferred by enterprises in the comingtime,” Dat said.
According to a VMC survey, cost used to belisted as one of the reasons for enterprises not choosing this method toresolve commercial disputes.
Dat said the centre charges a relativelylow fee for mediation since it understands that most enterprises in Vietnam aresmall or medium-sized and have financial issues.
The centre has very carefully consideredand set a fee that is affordable to most SMEs, he added.
The VMC now has 11 mediators, who are some ofthe country’s top experts in trade and commercial activities.-VNA