Arbitration's jurisdiction to settle disputes: (i) Disputes among parties which arise from commercial activities; (ii) Disputes among parties at least one of whom conducts commercial activities; (iii) Other disputes which are stipulated by law to be settled by arbitration.

Principles of dispute settlement by arbitration: (i) Arbitrators must respect the parties agreement if such agreement neither breaches prohibitions nor contravenes social ethics; (ii) Arbitrators must be independent, objective and impartial and shall observe law; (iii) Disputing parties are equal in their rights and obligations. The arbitration council shall create conditions for disputing parties to exercise their rights and fulfill their obligations; (iv) Dispute settlement by arbitration shall be conducted in private, unless otherwise agreed by the parties; (v) Arbitral awards are final.

Conditions for dispute settlement by arbitration: (i) A dispute shall be settled by arbitration if the parties have an arbitration agreement. An arbitration agreement may be made either before or after a dispute arises; (ii) When one of the parties being an individual to an arbitration agreement dies or loses his/her act capacity, such arbitration agreement remains valid for his/her heir or representative at law. unless otherwise agreed by the parties; (iii) When one of the parties being an institution to an arbitration agreement has to terminate its operation, goes bankrupt, or is dissolved, consolidated, merged, divided, split up or reorganized, such arbitration agreement remains valid for an institution that takes over the rights and obligations of the institution to such arbitration agreement, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

Language: (i) For disputes involving no foreign element, the language to be used in arbitral proceedings is Vietnamese, except disputes to which at least one party is a foreign-invested enterprise. When a disputing party cannot use Vietnamese, it may use an interpreter; (ii) For disputes involving foreign elements or disputes to which at least one party is a foreign-invested enterprise, the parties shall reach agreement on the language to be used in arbitral proceedings. If they have no such agreement, the arbitration council shall decide on the language to be used in arbitral proceedings.

Venues for dispute settlement by arbitration: (i) The parties may reach agreement on venues for dispute settlement. If no agreement is made, the arbitration council shall decide on such venue. A venue for dispute settlement may be within or outside the Vietnamese territory; (ii) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitration council may hold a meeting at a venue regarded as appropriate for its members to exchange opinions, for taking witnesses' statements, consulting experts or for assessing goods, assets or other documents.

Applicable laws for dispute settlement: (i) For a dispute involving no foreign element, the arbitration council shall apply Vietnamese law for settling the dispute; (ii) For a dispute involving foreign elements. the arbitration council shall apply the law selected by the parties. If the parties have no agreement on the applicable law, the arbitration council shall decide to apply a law it sees the most appropriate; (iii) When the Vietnamese law or law selected by the parties contains no specific provisions concerning the dispute, the arbitration council may apply international practices for settling the dispute, provided such application or consequence of such application does not contravene the fundamental principles of Vietnamese law.

VTA’s Model Arbitration Clause: “Mọi tranh chấp phát sinh từ hoặc liên quan đến hợp đồng này sẽ được giải quyết bằng trọng tài tại Trung tâm Trọng tài Thương nhân Việt Nam (VTA) theo Quy tắc tố tụng trọng tài của Trung tâm này”. “Any dispute arising out of or in relation with this contract shall be resolved by arbitration at the Vietnam Traders Arbitration Centre (VTA) in accordance with its Rules of Arbitration”.

The Vietnam Trade Arbitration Center (VTA) is responsible for organizing and coordinating the resolution of business disputes through institutional arbitration, with jurisdiction over disputes including: (i) disputes arising from commercial activities between parties; (ii) disputes involving at least one party engaged in commercial activities; and (iii) disputes as prescribed by law to be resolved by arbitration.