Promoting Business Confidence Through International Commercial Arbitration

This webinar kicked off ADB’s international commercial arbitration webinar series and featured a conversation among key stakeholders and experts on how international commercial arbitration can promote business confidence in Timor-Leste. This webinar focused on how international commercial arbitration can assist in developing Timor-Leste’s international trade and investment agenda, as well as promote economic development and the rule of law. The development of international commercial arbitration will also assist in Timor-Leste’s COVID-19 recovery efforts. Specifically, this webinar discussed the UN Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (known as the New York Convention) and the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, both important international instruments that can be used to promote arbitration law reform in Timor-Leste. Ongoing arbitration law reform efforts in Timor-Leste will be discussed, as well as the importance of arbitration for certain industries in Timor-Leste, including the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Target Audience: Judges, lawyers, and private sector in Timor-Leste, as well as regional participants from Southeast Asia, South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and East Asia

Moderator: Christina Pak, Principal Counsel, ADB

Opening Remarks:

• Mr. Sunil Mitra, Country Director, Timor-Leste Resident Mission, ADB

Keynote Speaker:

• H.E. Dr. Manuel Cárceres da Costa, Minister for Justice (TBC)

Speakers:

• Honourable Judge Deolindo dos Santos, President of the Court of Appeal (TBC)
• Gary Born, Chair, International Arbitration Practice Group, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP/President, SIAC Court of Arbitration/ADB International Arbitration Expert
• Daniel Meltz, Barrister, 12 Wentworth Selborne Chambers/ADB International Arbitration Expert
• Jonathan Lim, Counsel, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
• Jo Delaney, Partner, Baker McKenzie, Sydney
• José Augusto Fernandes Teixeira, Partner, Da Silva Teixeira & Associados
• Gitanjali Bajaj, Partner, DLA Piper
• Deborah Tomkinson, Secretary-General, ACICA • Jae Sung Lee, Legal Officer, UNCITRAL
• Abhinav Bhushan, Director-South Asia, International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution International Court of Arbitration