An Inspiring Milestone for Viet Nam and ASEAN Law

Viet Nam consistently contributed to the ALAWMM, showcasing Viet Nam’s commitment to prosperous multilateralism, protection of ASEAN principles, and solving internal issues

Viet Nam’s representative deep in thought, immersed in debate, and discussions for the betterment of Viet Nam

Viet Nam’s representative was able to enhance contributions to the ASEAN Law Ministers’ Meeting, as the representative actively endorsed innovative, and effective solutions, such as the ASEAN Regional Exequatur Forum (AREF), Peer Reviews, Working Groups, Regional Task Forces, the ASEAN Exequatur Enforcement Council Minilateral Sector-specific Treaties, Supporting Framework (PWRM), and the ASEAN Exequatur Enforcement Council (AEEC).

Since the Đổi Mới economic reforms of the 1980s1, Viet Nam enjoyed great economic growth through market-based reforms, foreign investment, and rent-seeking opportunities. However, small legal inconsistencies in Viet Nam’s economy prevented it from thriving further, and stronger to a certain extent.

Since joining the WTO in 2007, Viet Nam has made notable, beneficial reforms to align with commercial law by international standards. However, the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards occasionally becomes unpredictable and inconsistent. Nonetheless, the Representative of Viet Nam’s numerous, brilliant solutions tackle said issues. 

Based on earlier dialogue, Viet Nam’s Representative meticulously questioned earlier renditions of the AREF framework and successfully voiced out, and resolved evident issues, carrying on Viet Nam’s long-lasting legacy of respecting state sovereignty. 

Solutions supported and supplemented by the Vietnamese representative include the ASEAN Regional Exequatur Forum (AREF). The AREF is a strategic and useful mechanism which acts as a strong safeguard for ASEAN member states from being vulnerable to illicit foreign influence. The AREF serves as a platform for ASEAN states and strategic partners to overturn invalid foreign judgements, suspected to have been made due to corruption, political biases, fraud, or breaches of national public policy. 

Supporting the AREF is a crucial safeguard for Vietnam’s 13th National Party Congress’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, while deepening collaboration with international partners. Viet Nam has historically prioritised consistent pursuit of actively safeguarding its national sovereignty, notably through the National Cybersecurity Strategy, modernising its army and navy. This support of the AREF provides Viet Nam with a platform to safeguard its own values and secure itself, especially in the context of the uncertain 21st century. 

In the dialogue, the representative also showcased Viet Nam’s eagerness to work actively with the rest of ASEAN to combat future issues that could potentially be posed, highlighting Viet Nam’s commitment in terms of its effort in trying to collaborate with others. As a gesture of goodwill, Viet Nam has also pledged to support any ASEAN frameworks, including the support of the PWRM framework.

The Peer Reviews, Working Groups, Regional Task Forces, the ASEAN Exequatur Enforcement Council Minilateral Sector-specific Treaties, Supporting Framework (PWRM), as its name implies, is an ASEAN-wide framework which is beneficial to the entirety of ASEAN. Vietnam, in its compassion for collaboration with others, has pledged support to this framework. 

Quoting the Vietnamese Representative, Peer Reviews are reviews ‘based on requests from each country, knowledge will be shared in the spirit of collaboration.’ and ‘Viet Nam is eagerly looking for countries to use this mechanism to call upon Viet Nam to assist them. 

Working groups are also a solution, where a voluntary regional group is formed to tackle certain issues, especially transnational crimes such as digital ones. According to the Vietnamese Minister, “A task force has also been established, which is rotated on a yearly basis, with each ASEAN state voluntarily hosting the force, composed of their own members.” 

A variety of minilateral agreements have also been formed, and a Memorandum of Understanding has been established, in which there are different tiers countries can choose to align themselves with. Viet Nam’s contribution has been plentiful, introducing numerous revisions and committing to multilateral agreements and the memorandum. 

The last solution meaningfully endorsed by the Vietnamese representative was the ASEAN Exequatur Enforcement Council (AEEC). The AEEC is a tool to enforce the exequatur process, which prioritises transparency through mechanisms such as progress reports, a board that makes information on exequatur procedures accessible to the public, and countries pledging to publish formal progress reports. Greater transparency is crucial, especially in the regional context of ASEAN, as seen by Viet Nam’s representative previously stating her support for policies in previous committee sessions due to their ‘immense transparency’.  

Through all the above solutions, Viet Nam’s legal inconsistencies can be wonderfully revised with the support of other countries, with the three frameworks being able to assist Viet Nam, being integrated with domestic frameworks. Viet Nam is also ready to extend a helping hand to any countries which should require Viet Nam’s help.

By The Agency of Nhan Dan – Maxim Pan, Brian Wong, Lim Ming Yao