In a successful institutional cooperation, the Cairo Regional for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) and the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) held a conference on: “the Euro-Arab Investor State Dispute Settlement: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives”, on 10-11 October, 2012, Cairo – Egypt. Hosted by the League of Arab States, the conference provided a thorough analysis of the ISDS in a culturally balanced context from Arab and European perspectives. The agenda shed light on the regulatory framework governing European-Arab investment flows, the latest investment policy developments and the various ISDS mechanisms available to settle Euro-Arab investor-State disputes.
The conference also highlighted the importance of regional Arab investment agreements, as well as Arab national laws on investment and how they affected directly or indirectly Euro-Arab investor-State disputes. The role of mediation and conciliation was also discussed and this proved to be a crucial topic at a time of political and social transition in the Arab world.The conference was the first occasion to discuss the IBA Rules for Investor-State Mediation, which was just adopted by a resolution of the IBA Council on 4 October 2012. Considerable part of the agenda was devoted to the analysis of the key issues (substantive and procedural) involved in Euro-Arab ISDS, which was seen by both scholars and practitioners to be a didactic enlightenment for better ISDS practices. Re-occurring issues in Euro-Arab ISDS such as compensation, FET and state liability were discussed in outstanding details. “From UNCTAD perspective, such conferences are a great asset as they provide for a platform for UNCTAD to present its latest research findings and to convey its readiness to provide technical assistance and capacity building to Arab and developing countries on issues related to IIAs and ISDS with a view to foster sustainable development objectives. It also strengthens UNCTAD’s cooperation with international and regional organizations with a view to build consensus on key issues in investment policy-making”, Hamed El Kady, Expert, International Investment Policies, International Agreements Section, Division on Investment and Enterprise, (UNCTAD) .
Download reports and presentations:
Download Rabab Yasseen’s presentation “State liability in Euro-Arab ISDS- the Arab perspective”
Download Hans Danelius’s presentation “Enforcement of Awards in Investment Arbitrations”
Download Christer Söderlund’s presentation “Compensation in Investment Arbitration”
