The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mongolian International and National Arbitration Center, in June this year, it has emerged. The signing of the MOU took place in
With the Mongolian Government’s recent pledge to strengthen its ties with China and Russia to build the trilateral Mongolia-Russia-China economic corridor, and the World Bank’s financing of US$120m to support reforms in Mongolia, the cooperation agreement could not have been more timely, the HKIAC said.
These projects, many of which are part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, will play an important role in accelerating economic growth by improving regional trade and investment in Mongolia.
Since the launch of the BRI in 2013, HKIAC has handled cases involving 18 parties from Mongolia. “We anticipate seeing more disputes as a result of the increased infrastructure investment in the region, particularly by China”, says Sarah Grimmer, HKIAC secretary-general. Signing the MOU with MINAC supports HKIAC’s recently launched outreach programme to BRI jurisdictions around the region. HKIAC says it is committed to working with local arbitral institutions for the development of commercial and investment dispute resolution through capacity building initiatives. “Collaborating with MINAC will help the two institutions to serve companies who want a seamless platform for dispute resolution,” says Nils Eliasson, HKIAC Council member and partner at Shearman and Sterling.
In November 2017, HKIAC organised a conference on International Arbitration in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. More recently, HKIAC hosted an arbitration capacity building workshop in Hong Kong for a delegation of Mongolian lawyers and MINAC’s Secretariat. It plans to implement more arbitration capacity building workshops in Ulaanbaatar in the future.
Taivankhuu Altangerel, an arbitrator of MINAC says, “Capacity building is one of the key agendas of MINAC in its ambition to develop itself as one of the competitive arbitration centers in the region. We are therefore very much grateful that HIKAC was receptive to our request and provided a delegation of Mongolia with a professionally-organized training on award writing as well as an extensive insight into the day-to-day operation of an international dispute resolution institution. Such an event helps not just enhance knowledge and experience but also, most importantly, boosts cooperation and connectivity of individuals and institutions.”
