Permanent Court of Arbitration Opens New Office in Hanoi

• The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) has opened an office in Hanoi, Vietnam to strengthen the country's reputation as a stable investment destination and make the PCA's services more accessible in Vietnam and the region.

• Vietnam has been party to eight investor-state disputes (ISDs) so far, with three being decided in favor of the state, one in favor of the investor, one settled, one abandoned, and two pending.

• Some of the notable ISDs involving Vietnam include: Recofi SA v. Vietnam, where the French company claimed that it had not been paid in full for contracts with Vietnamese companies and was seeking $66 million in compensation under the France-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BIT), but the arbitrators ruled that the contracts did not constitute an 'investment' in Vietnam and the PCA did not have jurisdiction to settle the conflict; Dialasie v. Vietnam, where the French company claimed that Vietnam was in breach of the Fair and Equitable Treatment clause of the France-Vietnam BIT due to its dialysis clinic in HCMC being held to the standards of a hospital instead of a clinic, but the PCA ruled against Dialasie and costs were split between the two parties; McKenzie v. Vietnam, where an American investor claimed that Vietnam had breached the national treatment and expropriation provisions of the US-Vietnam BIT by not allowing him to build a resort on land allocated to another company, but the PCA ruled that Vietnam had not breached its obligations under the BIT.