Foreign arbitration and the enforcement of foreign awards in Vietnam: the New York Convention and Vietnam's reservations, the recognition procedure under the Civil Procedure Code, documents, fees and timelines, the grounds for refusal, choosing SIAC, HKIAC or ICC, and reaching assets in Vietnam

When an offshore arbitration is available and why it is chosen

Article 13(3) of Law No. 143/2025/QH15 on Investment allows disputes between investors to go to foreign or international arbitration where at least one party is a foreign investor or a Vietnamese company more than 50% foreign-owned (FAQ 72). Foreign investors use that freedom for three reasons: neutrality, because neither side's home institutions decide the case; the ability to proceed in English before arbitrators experienced in international transactions; and enforceability outside Vietnam, because an award seated in Singapore, Hong Kong, London or Paris can be enforced in any of the more than 170 states party to the New York Convention, wherever the losing party holds assets.

The price is a second proceeding in Vietnam. A foreign award does not bind the Vietnamese enforcement agencies until a Vietnamese court has recognised it, and recognition can be refused. Where the Vietnamese counterparty's assets are all in Vietnam, the investor is choosing between a Vietnamese award enforceable directly and a foreign award enforceable after a recognition application that typically takes several months at first instance and longer if appealed. That trade-off, and the alternative of VIAC arbitration seated in Vietnam, is set out in Dispute resolution landscape and choice of forum and Commercial arbitration and VIAC.

The New York Convention and Vietnam's reservations

Vietnam acceded to the 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards on 12 September 1995, and the Convention has been in force for Vietnam since 11 December 1995 (FAQ 74). Vietnam made the two reservations the Convention permits. Under the reciprocity reservation it applies the Convention to awards made in the territory of another contracting state, and to awards made in non-contracting states only to the extent that those states grant reciprocal treatment. Under the commercial reservation it applies the Convention only to differences arising out of legal relationships, whether contractual or not, that are considered commercial under Vietnamese law. Since almost every trading state is a party, reciprocity rarely matters in practice; the commercial reservation is satisfied by any dispute within the broad concept of commercial activities in the Commercial Law and Article 2 of the Law on Commercial Arbitration.

The Convention is implemented in Vietnamese law by the Civil Procedure Code (Law No. 92/2015/QH13), principally Articles 451 to 463, which set out the application, the court's examination and the grounds for refusal. Article 424 of the Code defines the foreign awards that may be recognised as awards made by a foreign arbitral tribunal under the Convention or otherwise on reciprocity, and the Law on Commercial Arbitration (Article 3(11)) adds its own definition; the overlap creates uncertainty for an award made by a foreign institution with its seat in Vietnam, which most advisers avoid.

Where and how to apply

The applicant, normally the award creditor or its lawful representative, files a written application for recognition and enforcement within three years of the date on which the award took legal effect; time lost to force majeure or objective obstacles is not counted (Article 451). Where a treaty to which Vietnam is party requires it, the application is sent to the Ministry of Justice, which within five working days opens a file and forwards it to the competent court (Article 454); where there is no such treaty provision, which is the usual position for New York Convention awards, the application may be filed directly with the competent court.

Since 1 July 2025 the competent court at first instance is a regional people's court: the court of the place where the award debtor, if an individual, resides or works, or, if an organisation, has its head office, or the place where its assets relevant to enforcement are located (FAQ 74). The 2025 reorganisation moved this jurisdiction down from the former provincial courts; appeals now go to the provincial court. Where at least one party is a member of the Vietnam International Financial Centre and no State or public interest is involved, Law No. 150/2025/QH15 gives the centre's specialised court jurisdiction over recognition instead, once that court is operating (The VIFC court and specialised forums).

The application must state the names and addresses of the parties, the award and the relief sought, and, where enforcement is sought against assets, the location of those assets (Article 452). It must be accompanied by the original or a certified copy of the award and the original or a certified copy of the arbitration agreement (Article 453). Documents in a foreign language must be translated into Vietnamese with a notarised or certified translation. Documents issued abroad must be consular-legalised, or, from 11 September 2026 when Vietnam applies the Apostille Convention, apostilled in a state that is also a party. The court fee for the application is VND 3 million under Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14.

Recognition of a foreign award, step by step

1. Check the award is final and the time limitConfirm the award is binding under the law of the seat and not subject to a pending setting-aside application there; diarise three years from the date it took legal effect (Article 451).
2. Locate the assets and choose the courtIdentify the debtor's head office and its assets in Vietnam (bank accounts, receivables, real property, shares); the regional court for that place is competent.
3. Prepare and legalise the documentsCertified copies of the award and the arbitration agreement, the applicant's corporate documents and power of attorney, each apostilled or consular-legalised and translated into Vietnamese by a certified translator (Article 453).
4. File and pay the feeFile directly with the regional court, or through the Ministry of Justice where a treaty requires; pay VND 3 million. The court accepts the case within five working days of receiving the file and notifies the parties, the procuracy and the Ministry of Justice (Article 455).
5. Preparation periodThe court has two months from acceptance to prepare, extendable by up to two months if it asks the applicant to clarify points; it may suspend or terminate the examination on legal grounds (Article 457).
6. Hearing before three judgesThe hearing opens within 20 days of the decision to hold it, with the file sent to the procuracy at least 15 days before; the panel checks the award and documents against Vietnamese law and the Convention, without retrying the dispute, and decides by majority (Article 458).
7. AppealThe parties may appeal and the procuracy may protest; the provincial court decides within one month of receiving the file, extendable to two months, and its decision takes effect on issue, subject only to cassation or reopening.
8. EnforceWith an effective recognition decision, apply to the provincial civil judgment enforcement agency within the five-year enforcement period, or engage a licensed private enforcement office, under Law No. 106/2025/QH15.

Grounds for refusal

Article 459 of the Civil Procedure Code lists the grounds on which recognition is refused. Most must be proved by the party resisting enforcement: a party to the arbitration agreement lacked capacity under the applicable law; the arbitration agreement is invalid under the law chosen by the parties or, failing a choice, the law of the place where the award was made; the debtor was not duly notified of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the proceedings, or could not exercise its right of defence for a legitimate reason; the award deals with a dispute not referred to arbitration or goes beyond the scope of the agreement, in which case the part within scope may be recognised if separable; the composition of the tribunal or the procedure was not in accordance with the parties' agreement or the law of the seat; and the award has not yet become binding or has been set aside or suspended in the country where it was made. Two grounds the court considers on its own initiative: the dispute is not capable of settlement by arbitration under Vietnamese law, and recognition would be contrary to the fundamental principles of Vietnamese law.

These grounds mirror Article V of the Convention, but their application has been the main concern of foreign investors. Vietnamese courts have in reported cases refused recognition on grounds that would not succeed in most Convention states: a narrow view of the authority of the person who signed the arbitration agreement, technical defects in notice, or treating the incorrect application of Vietnamese substantive law as a breach of fundamental principles. Resolution No. 01/2014/NQ-HDTP, which concerns domestic annulment, insists that a fundamental principle be identified specifically and its breach shown to harm the State, third parties or the parties, and courts are increasingly applying the same discipline to foreign awards. Published statistics are incomplete and the figures cited by commentators vary; the picture is of a court practice that has improved but in which refusals remain more common than in the leading arbitral jurisdictions. Recognition should be planned for, not assumed.

If the award is later set aside or suspended at the seat, the Vietnamese court, on application, cancels its recognition decision and the enforcement agency stops or reverses enforcement (Article 463); while a setting-aside application is pending abroad, the court may ask the enforcement agency to suspend.

Choosing SIAC, HKIAC or ICC with Vietnamese enforcement in mind

SIAC in Singapore is the most frequent offshore choice for Vietnam-related contracts: Singapore is close, its courts are supportive of arbitration, and its arbitrators include many with Vietnam experience. HKIAC is common where the counterparty or financing has a Hong Kong or mainland Chinese element. The ICC suits large, multi-jurisdictional contracts and those with European parties, and its scrutiny of draft awards reduces the risk of formal defects; the seat for an ICC case must be named separately and is commonly Singapore, Paris or London. All three now provide for emergency arbitrators, expedited procedures and joinder, but an emergency arbitrator's order is not an award and cannot be recognised in Vietnam, so urgent relief against assets in Vietnam must still come from a Vietnamese court.

Five drafting and conduct points reduce recognition risk. Ensure the arbitration agreement is signed by the Vietnamese party's legal representative or a person with a written authorisation, and keep that authorisation, because authority is the most common defence. Serve all notices at the counterparty's registered address in Vietnam as well as by e-mail, keep proof of delivery, and give the Vietnamese party every procedural opportunity, even when it does not participate. Ask the tribunal to address in the award any arguments under Vietnamese mandatory law, such as the 8% penalty cap under Article 301 of the Commercial Law, so that a court cannot say the award ignored a fundamental principle. Prefer English or another language that a certified translator in Vietnam can render accurately, and budget for translation of the award. Finally, check that the dispute is arbitrable in Vietnam; an award on a matter reserved to the Vietnamese courts or authorities, such as the validity of a land use right certificate, will not be recognised.

Reaching assets in Vietnam

Recognition converts the award into an enforceable title in Vietnam, but money is recovered only from identifiable assets. The recognised award is enforced by the provincial civil judgment enforcement agency where the agency or the assets are located, under Law No. 106/2025/QH15 on Civil Judgment Enforcement, which applies from 1 July 2026 and expressly covers foreign arbitral awards recognised by a Vietnamese court; the creditor may instead engage a licensed private enforcement office under a service contract. The enforcement officer may freeze accounts, garnish receivables, attach and auction assets and require banks, tax authorities and registries to provide information (Enforcing judgments and civil judgment enforcement).

Because the recognition proceeding is public and the debtor is notified, assets can move before the decision. The creditor should consider applying for interim measures, such as freezing a bank account or prohibiting the transfer of real property, from the competent Vietnamese court when it files, and should take security over assets during the life of the contract where possible (FAQ 80). Where the foreign award is against a State-owned enterprise, the enterprise's assets are generally reachable like any company's; enforcement against the State itself raises the separate questions in Investor-State disputes and treaty claims.