SCCA24 Conference Launches Tomorrow
Published Date: 05/03/2024
With the Participation of the Saudi Minister of Justice and the Minister of Investment
Riyadh International Disputes Week 2024, which lasts through Thursday, continues with the the third Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration International Conference and Exhibition on Wednesday, headlined “Dispute Resolution in a Changing World: New Trends, New Opportunities” and organized by SCCA in partnership with UNCITRAL. The event, SCCA24, has the support of relevant institutions, and elite legal experts from around the world will take part.
The conference program includes five main panel discussions, two keynote speeches by dignitaries in the ADR industry, seven subtopics, and 30 speakers, in addition to the official signing ceremonies for a number of cooperation agreements and partnerships. More than 1200 targeted participants will attend the conference.
SCCA24 will begin its Opening Ceremony at the Hilton Riyadh Hotel with remarks by SCCA Chairman Dr. Walid bin Sulaiman Abanumay. SCCA CEO Dr. Hamed bin Hassan Merah, SCCA24 Scientific Committee Chairman Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Wahab, and Saudi Aramco Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Corporate & Commercial Law Dr. Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Amer will also take part.
Meg Kinnear, Secretary General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), will deliver the first keynote speech. Judge Dr. Youssef Al Farraj, Head of the Court of Appeal and Chair of the Civil Transactions Law Drafting Team at the Judicial Legislation Committee, will deliver the second keynote speech, titled “The Saudi Judiciary’s Trends Toward Arbitration.”
The first panel discussion will be on “Regional Trends and International Perspectives on Commercial ADR” and will be moderated by SCCA Vice Chairman Mr. Toby Landau, with Saudi Minister of Justice Dr. Walid bin Mohammed Al-Samaani, Bahraini Minister of Justice and Waqf Mr. Mohammed Al-Mowada, Singaporean Minister for Home Affairs and Law Mr. K. Shanmugam, and Permanent Court of Arbitration Secretary General Dr. Marcin Czepelak.
The second panel, on “ADR Accelerators and Enablers of Cross-border Trade and Foreign Direct Investment,” will be moderated by SCCA Board Member Dr. Saud bin Abdullah Al-Ammari, with Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, UNCITRAL Secretary Anna Joubin-Bret, Silk Road Fund General Counsel Hannah Cao, and Public Investment Fund General Counsel Brian Gillespie.
Headlined “Trends in the Global ADR Industry,” the third panel will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Franco Ferrari, the Director of the Center for Transnational Litigation, Arbitration, and Commercial Law at New York University. The other participants will be Mr. John B. Quinn, the founder and Chairman of the law firm Quinn Emmanuel Law; legal expert Dr. Franco Mastrandrea; Mr. Ben Knowles, Partner and Head of International Arbitration and Chair of the Global Arbitration Group; Mr. Lawrence Teh, Senior Partner and Global Co-Head of International Arbitration; and Ms. Meriam Al-Rashid, Global Co-Chair of International Arbitration and Co-Head of Latin America Arbitration.
The fourth panel discussion, on “Development Project and Contracting Disputes: Challenges and Opportunities,” will be moderated by Mr. Andres Jana, the Founding Partner of Jana & Gil Dispute Resolution. The other participants will be Mr. Javier Serada Quiza, Head of Legal at Acciona Infrastructure; independent arbitrator Ms. Aisha Nadar; Mr. Ali Al Hashimi, Managing Partner of Global Advocacy; Dr. Franco Mastrandrea, Partner at HKA global consultancy; and Dr. Fahad Abuhimed, Managing Partner at AS&H Clifford Chance.
The fifth and final panel discussion is devoted to “New Frontiers in ADR in Sports and Entertainment,” moderated by SCCA Board Member Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf Mohamed, with Prof. Dr. Stefan Kröll, Director of the Center for International Dispute Resolution; independent arbitrator Ms. Funke Adekoya; Mr. Majed Garoub, CEO of Majed Mohammed Garoub law firm; Mr. Michael Black, Judge of the Digital Economy Court at DIFC Courts; and Dr. Mohamad bin Nasser Basam, Chairman of Saudi Sports Arbitration Center.
SCCA24 is a unique opportunity to meet all the relevant leaders and decision makers at the local, Middle East, and global levels, especially in light of the remarkable developments in Saudi Arabia as part of Vision 2030. This makes the conference the heart of Riyadh International Disputes Week 2024 in the largest economy in the Middle East and one of the fastest growing economies in the world.