Promoting Commercial Mediation in India
Promoting Commercial Mediation in India
tabla! October 2, 2015
Singapore International Mediation Centre visits Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to create awareness of dispute resolution options in S’pore
Last month, the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) visited Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru and took part in a series of events. The events in Delhi and Mumbai, organised by the Singapore Ministry of Law, were aimed at creating awareness of the complete suite of dispute resolution options in Singapore.
In Delhi, Justice Quentin Loh delivered the keynote address and in Mumbai, the Chief Justice of Singapore Sundaresh Menon addressed the audience.
After the Delhi and Mumbai events, SIMC partnersed Indian mediation organisations – the Centre for Advanced Mediation Practice and the Indian Institute of Arbitration and Mediation (IIAM) – to organise a mediation seminar in Bengaluru on Sept 10. SIMC and IIAM also signed a Memorandum of Understanding, pledging to among other things, continue in their cooperation to promote commercial mediation in India.
Speaking to the Times of India in Mumbai, Mr Menon said: “We are situated at a very interesting point in world economic history which is moving eastward. The growth of cross-border trade within and intra Asia is immense. Not only are transactions complicated, they involve an interplay of domestic and international legal complexities. We in Singapore built on our world-class judiciary known for its efficiency and best practices to promote international arbitration starting 25 years ago, but which came into its own in the last decade surpassing all expectations.”
India is among the top three countries along with the US and China that approach the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) for dispute settlement. SIAC, which provides neutral arbitration services to the global business community, handled 222 new cases in 2014.
CEO of SIAC and SIMC Lim Seok Hui told tabla!: “Singapore is a natural choice for many Indian companies and their counsel not only because of the common social, cultural, legal and economic heritage that Singapore and India share, but because of the many practical benefits that coming to Singapore offers such as neutrality, convenience, connectivity, availability of state-of-the-art dispute resolution facilities, excellent infrastructure and a complete suite of dispute resolution offerings designed specifically for cross-border disputes.
“For example, one innovative and user-friendly Singaporean offering is SIAC and SIMC’s Arb-Med-Arb service which combines arbitration and mediation in a single seamless and cost-effective process, allowing a mediated settlement agreement to be enforceable as a consent award.”
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