SCCA opens branch in King Abdullah Economic City

Published Date: 22/04/2019

Economic Cities Authority hosts symposium on “Institutional Arbitration: Supporting and Attracting Investment in the Kingdom and in Economic Cities.”

King Abdullah Economic City, April 2019: Acting on the memorandum of understanding signed between their organizations, Economic Cities Authority (ECA) Secretary General Mr. Muhannad Bin Abdul Mohsen Helal and Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) Chairman Mr. Yaseen Bin Khalid Khayyat inaugurated a new SCCA branch at the ECA headquarters in King Abdullah Economic City. The SCCA branch complements ECA’s efforts to create an integrated justice environment that serves investors in the economic cities, providing them the necessary support to ensure that their businesses thrive and their investments grow. Several senior officials from ECA and SCCA attended the launch, as well as senior staff from Emaar Economic City Company, the Economic City’s main developer.

During the inauguration activities, Helal explained that the presence of the SCCA branch in the city embodies the business model for the economic cities, which is based on strategic partnership with organizations that facilitate business, such as the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration. The state, represented by the Economic Cities Authority, organizes, supervises, empowers, and provides integrated government services to investors with great efficiency, while the business facilitators are involved in development, management, dispute resolution, operations, and marketing products and services in the economic cities.

“SCCA will work to meet the needs of investors in the economic cities and increase the cities’ competitiveness by providing an attractive, catalytic justice and investment environment that can bring in more high-quality investments, God permitting.”

Khayyat, in his remarks, said: “SCCA will work to effectively and efficiently provide alternative dispute resolution services to investors in accordance with best practices and the latest international standards. This will contribute to achieving SCCA’s strategic objectives, which are to deepen its relationship with relevant entities in promoting local and foreign investment in the Kingdom, creating an attractive investment environment, and advancing the institutional arbitration industry.”

In conjunction with the launch of the SCCA branch, ECA hosted a symposium titled “Institutional Arbitration: Supporting and Attracting Investment in the Kingdom and the Economic Cities,” with a view to exploring the key developments and ongoing changes in the commercial and legal landscape for arbitration, specifically institutional arbitration, in the Kingdom in general and in the economic cities in particular. The symposium, held in Royal Greens Hall at King Abdullah Economic City, was attended by a throng of business sector executives, legal consultants, and staff from corporate legal departments and law firms inside and outside the economic city.

ECA Vice Secretary General Eng. Imad Hashem opened the symposium by welcoming the launch of the SCCA branch at the ECA headquarters, emphasizing institutional arbitration’s importance and prominent role in supporting investment activity in the economic cities, in keeping with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The symposium had two sessions, the first on “Institutional Arbitration in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Reforms and the Readiness of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration,” featuring SCCA CEO Dr. Hamed Bin Hassan Merah. It was followed by a session titled “SCCA’s New Products and Keeping Up With Investors’ Aspirations,” featuring Mr. Muhannad Bin Hamad Al Juaid, a case consultant at SCCA. The symposium concluded with an open panel discussion during which attendees exchanged views and visions on the role of institutional arbitration in supporting and attracting investment in the Kingdom in general and in the economic cities in particular.

After the symposium, ECA organized a tour for the attendees and participants of King Abdullah Economic City’s facilities in order to familiarize them with the city’s new advancements and the latest achievements and projects being developed to diversify sources of income and create employment opportunities in targeted sectors in the city.

About the Economic Cities Authority

The Economic Cities Authority was established by royal order in 2010 to perform administrative and financial supervision of the economic cities, including their organizational and supervisory responsibilities, and to efficiently provide diverse, integrated government services to investors and residents in accordance within a single-window system.

ECA is contributing to achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 by developing innovative initiatives and business models that adopt the principle of public-private partnership. It supports strategic initiatives and efforts to attract high-quality investments designed to stimulate activity in the economic cities and bolster the proposed value of those investments.

ECA’s work is guided by a vision that aims for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to become a global center that attracts high-quality, high-value, long-term investments. This vision is based on the values of leadership, integrity, responsibility, partnership, and customer service. ECA is also committed to providing an attractive living environment that ensures an exceptional quality of life for residents, visitors, and workers in the economic cities. ECA plays an integral role in supporting the economic cities and identifying their needs and requirements, thus enabling them to achieve their objectives of contributing to diversifying the Saudi economy and providing high-quality jobs for young Saudis.