For information only – not an official document
UNIS/L/379
17 July 2025
VIENNA, 17 July 2025 (UN Information Service) – On the sidelines of the 58th session of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam signed a memorandum of understanding with the secretariat of UNCITRAL. The memorandum of understanding aims to strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and Viet Nam in modernizing the country’s commercial law framework and expanding stakeholders' knowledge of UNCITRAL’s work in Viet Nam.
The signing ceremony coincided with the beginning of Viet Nam’s new six-year term as a Member State of UNCITRAL, following its re-election by the United Nations General Assembly in November 2024.
The memorandum of understanding expands upon the existing cooperation framework, which has already facilitated several joint initiatives to promote the consideration and implementation of UNCITRAL texts in Viet Nam. Notable recent activities include a conference on Viet Nam's participation to UNCITRAL for the term 2019-2025, held in Ha Noi on 19 June 2025 to mark the start of Viet Nam’s new term, the co-organization of an UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Days event in December 2024, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, Vietnam International Arbitration Centre and Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, on UNCITRAL’s arbitration framework, and a workshop on smart contracts and the digital economy conducted in March 2024.
During the 58th session, Viet Nam submitted a proposal for future UNCITRAL work in the area of carbon markets. Earlier in 2025, in the context of UNCITRAL Working Group III’s work on investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) reform, Viet Nam also proposed to host an inter-sessional meeting on ISDS reform in the first half of 2026.
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The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law. It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development.
UNCITRAL also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement UNCITRAL texts. The UNCITRAL secretariat is located in Vienna, Austria. For more information, visit: uncitral.un.org.
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For information, please contact:
Neale Bergman
Senior Legal Officer
UNCITRAL secretariat
Email: neale.bergman[at]un.org
Spain has ratified the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships, also known as the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”.
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