Permanent Court of Arbitration opens office in Hanoi

The office at 48A Tran Phu Street in Dien Bien Ward of Hanoi’s Ba Dinh District will provide free trial venues and meeting rooms for international events of the PCA.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said the PCA is a dispute settlement agency of special importance on an international scale, which has effectively and positively contributed to the settlement of disputes between countries, and between states and organizations, ensuring compliance with international law, contributing to maintaining international peace and security.

Supporting the PCA to set up its office in Hanoi demonstrates Vietnam’s commitment to promoting multilateralism, upholding the Charter of the United Nations, and principles of international law, said Son.

PCA’s Secretary General Marcin Czepelak said at the event the office opening demonstrates Vietnam’s role and position as an active and responsible member of the international community that promotes compliance with international law and settlement of disputes via peaceful means.

Czepelak praised Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s statement that “Vietnam will not choose sides but justice, fairness” when speaking at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington on May 12.

He said that is the PCA’s principles and one of the reasons it has decided to open an office in Vietnam.

He affirmed that the PCA would continue boosting cooperation with Vietnam, especially in activities to train a team of international legal experts.

The PCA was established in 1899 to facilitate arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution between states or between states and foreign legal entities in the field of economy and investment.

With 122 member states, it is headquartered at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.

Before opening an office in Hanoi, the agency had four branches in Mauritius, Argentina, Singapore and Austria.

Vietnam joined the PCA in 2012 through its accession to the 1907 Convention on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes.