15 Jul, 2024
The Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) announces the launch of the second edition of Riyadh International Disputes Week (RIDW), which will be held on February 23 – 27, 2025. The first edition of RIDW was a resounding success attended by major players in the commercial dispute resolution industry from around the world.
It is anticipated that RIDW25 will feature five days of specialized events addressing several topics around commercial dispute resolution, under the theme “Managing Global Business Relationship: Legal Reforms, Commercial Strategies & Harmonization of Dispute Resolution.” It aims to be an international platform that brings together officials, experts, and interested parties from within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond to exchange knowledge and expertise, forge partnerships and collaborations, and highlight Saudi Arabia’s investment in this industry as an enabler of economic growth and a tool to facilitate business and stimulate investment.
Despite being newly launched, the last edition of RIDW included 92 events, encompassing conferences, seminars, lectures, panel discussions, and more, organized by 105 local and international organizations involved in commercial dispute resolution. It witnessed an influx of more than 4,000 participants from 79 countries, making it an international forum for leaders in the industry.
RIDW25 is organized by a committee of dispute resolution professionals and experts from Saudi Arabia and abroad. It governs the RIDW25 business to achieve growth and sustainability and reviews applications to host events. This process results in an events calendar that represents real value for attendees.
To improve the experience of RIDW25 attendees and maximize the benefit of the events, the committee has limited event starting times to specific time slots so that an event can begin only within one of those slots. It also identified northwest Riyadh as an ideal geographical scope for holding events, which will facilitate the accessibility of RIDW25 events and movement between sites, enabling attendees to attend as many events as possible.
It is anticipated that the second edition of RIDW will feature the SCCA fourth International Conference and Exhibition (SCCA25). This will be the main event of RIDW25, on its fourth day, February 26. The conference is one of the most important international events in the commercial dispute resolution industry, a single platform bringing together senior officials, leaders from the business and legal sectors, international experts, and international organizations.
The last edition of the conference offered panel discussions with seven sub-themes and more than 30 speakers including decision makers, international arbitrators, legal counsels, and others, while more than 1,200 participants attended. The conference also saw the formation of a number of agreements and strategic partnerships with local and international stakeholders in the industry.
The next edition of RIDW will also feature the oral arguments round of the sixth edition of the SCCA International Arbitration Moot (SIAM6), which SCCA organizes every year in partnership with UNCITRAL and the Commercial Law Development Program (CLPD) at the U.S. State Department.
The RIDW25 website will be the main, official platform for announcing events, venues, and all related details. It will also be the platform for receiving applications to host events during the week.
SCCA invites parties interested in hosting events under the umbrella of RIDW25 to submit their applications through the RIDW25 website. The application window is open until Thursday, 31 October 2024 or until the target number of events .
