Arbitration rules to boost investments

RIYADH: A forum on the new rules of arbitration and their impact on investment in Saudi Arabia was held yesterday at the Council of Saudi Chambers (CSC). About 350 Saudis, including high-profile legal, judicial and investment experts, attended the event under the aegis of Prince Bandar bin Salman, adviser to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
The Commercial Arbitration Center and the International Chamber of Commerce organized the forum to promote and strengthen a culture of arbitration in the commercial sector and to highlight the advantages of the new rules and their impact on the investment environment in the Kingdom.
In his keynote address, Prince Bandar, who is also president of the Saudi arbitration team, said that the Kingdom has achieved a remarkable record in making over 100 laws in the past 10 years.
The law on commercial arbitration is among these, he said.
Prince Bandar said: “We have overtaken many countries because we implement Islamic law to cover every aspect of life, including the international law.”
He noted that Saudi Arabia had some outdated legislation. As such the new rules have covered many important aspects, including specialization that would meet the new commercial trends.
“Saudi Arabia has many accomplishments to its credit, including the arbitration rule. In the last 10 years Saudi Arabia witnessed a boom in creating rules and regulations, putting the country ahead of many nations both in terms of quantity and quality of those laws. The new arbitration will correct deficiencies in the old system,” said Prince Bandar.
Khalid Abdulaziz Alnowaiser, committee chairman of the Commercial Arbitration at the CSC, stressed the fact that the “arbitration” has become in today’s world of commerce “imperative” and is no longer optional. He noted its importance in attracting foreign investment, and the protection of national companies in the international trade contracts.
CSC Chairman Abdullah Al-Mubti spoke on the economic boom and the challenges facing the world’s economies and the Kingdom’s involvement in many trade agreements. These increased the economic activities in the Kingdom significantly. He urged the participants to learn from these developments, stressing that the new arbitration rules are an extension of the policy the Saudi government intended for national development in general. These will push forward the economic reforms through a variety and effective policies.