The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and the Government of Vietnam on October 27 announced the establishment of a representative office in Hanoi, the fourth outside its Hague headquarters.

The Hanoi-based office, which will be set up within the coming months, will administer PCA hearings and meetings, according to PCA.

Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu and the PCA Secretary-General Hugo Siblesz.

Signatories of the agreement at the virtual event were Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu and the PCA Secretary-General Hugo Siblesz.

Vietnam and the PCA have cooperated over the past decade with Vietnam’s appointment of PCA Members of the Court, the designation of Ambassadors of Vietnam to the Netherlands accredited to represent Vietnam at the PCA Administrative Council, and the PCA  training of Vietnam’s experts in various legal professions.

The representative office is expected to demonstrate Vietnam’s strong commitment to the peaceful settlement of international disputes and in making the PCA’s services more accessible in Vietnam and the region.

The move represents a step of further cooperation in implementing the goals set forth in the Host Country Agreement signed by the PCA and Vietnam in 2014. The move would facilitate the PCA’s work in conducting arbitral proceedings within the country. From the 1990s onward, the PCA has adopted a policy of concluding Host Country Agreements with its member states to make its dispute resolution services more widely accessible to states throughout the world.

The Vietnam-PCA Host Country Agreement secures the provision by Vietnam of the facilities and services required for PCA-administered proceedings such as officeS and meeting space and secretarial services, which may be offered at no cost to the parties. Importantly, the agreement also sets out the privileges and immunities accorded to adjudicators and participants in PCA-administered cases.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi-based office will allow the PCA and Vietnam to serve the evolving dispute resolution needs of states and other entities as demand for access to PCA services grows in the coming years.

Established in 1899 and headquartered in the Hague, the Netherlands, with 122 contracting parties, the PCA facilitates arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution between states.

Vietnam became a contracting party to the 1907 Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International disputes on February 27, 2012. As a contracting party to this founding Convention of the PCA, Vietnam is represented on the PCA’s panel of independent arbitrators known as Members of the Court. These members may be called upon to serve as arbitrators in PCA-administered disputes.

Vietnam’s current Members of the Court are Nguyen Khanh Ngoc, Nguyen Dang Thang, Nguyen Thi Hoang Anh, and Dang Xuan Hop.