DAMMAM, 24 October 2007 — The perceived discrimination against economic interests of Muslim countries is the cause for the prevailing notion that the international trade arbitrators are hostile to Arab and Muslim countries, said the president of the Chamber of Arbitration of Muslim Countries in the conclusion of the international conference on engineering arbitration in Alkhobar on Monday.
Muhammad Majid Al-Khalousi, founder president of the chamber said “the inability to change the Arab countries’ dependence on the arbitrators with inadequate experience and a tendency to be subservient to the western norms led to situations in which foreign trade establishments insist on arbitration outside the Arab world in cases where the Arab countries are involved.”
Crown Prince Sultan, deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation, opened the international conference on engineering arbitration organized by the Saudi Engineers Society.
Eastern Province Gov. Prince Muhammad ibn Fahad and his deputy Prince Jalawi also attended the opening session on Oct. 16.
Al-Khalousi said the disputing foreign companies insist on arbitration based on the regulations and conventions of their countries or the European regulations.
“This state has led to a kind of foreign domination over the outlooks and attitudes of the officials and businessmen in the Muslim world,” he said.
Thirty international experts spoke in the conference and16 work papers were presented.
Abdul Wahhab Al-Bahi, president of the Tunis Center for Reconciliation and Arbitration, emphasized the need for holding to the basic principles of arbitration, which are: equality of the disputants, freedom of the involved parties to determine the arbitration procedures, right for arguments, freedom of defense and secrecy of the proceedings.
Ahmad Al-Anzawi, director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Social Sciences, called on the concerned authorities to simplify the arbitration procedures and make them less complicated than normal legal procedures. He also stressed the need for e-arbitration in order to minimize the need for the parties traveling to another country to settle a dispute.
Ibrahim Rashid, Saudi representative at the permanent International Arbitration Tribunal in the Hague, pointed out the need for considering the Shariah principles in international arbitrations.
Nabil Muhammad Abbas, another expert on arbitration procedures in the Gulf, presented a comparative study of the arbitration methods adopted in various Gulf countries.
Muhammad Abu Al-Aynain gave a detailed description of the disputes related to the construction sector and their settlements in the Arab countries.
