Publish time: Tue Nov 05 19:21:25 CST 2019
Contributor:Xi Zhang
On the afternoon of October 28 2019, the Beijing Arbitration Commission / Beijing International Arbitration Center (the “BAC”) signs Memorandum of Understanding with the International Arbitration Centre of the Astana International Financial Centre (the “IAC”). Mr. Lin Zhiwei, Secretary General of the BAC, Dr. Chen Fuyong, Deputy Secretary General of the BAC, Mr. Zhang Haoliang, Director of Business Development (International Arbitration) Dept. of the BAC, and Ms. Zhang Xi, Senior Counsel of the BAC, were present at the signing ceremony which was witnessed by Mr. Bao Zhi and Mr. Dong Gang, arbitrators of the BAC.
Attendees of the signing ceremony
The Memorandum of Understanding were executed by Mr. Lin Zhiwei on behalf of the BAC and Ms. Barbara Dohmann QC, President of the IAC, on behalf of the IAC, aiming at promoting the friendship and cooperation between the two institutions.
The Astana International Financial Centre (the “AIFC”) is a financial hub of Central Asia, Caucasia, Eurasian Economic Union, Middle East, Western China and Mongolia. The AIFC began its operation on January 1 2018. By July 1 of the year, there are 50 companies registered at the AIFC, and more than 200 as of today. Thanks to its unique geographical advantages, the AIFC has already become a forefront of the economic and trade growth under the Belt and Road Initiative, and is proactively promoting the establishment of the first offshore CNH market in Central Asia. As an arbitration institution under the AIFC, the IAC is chaired by renowned Ms. Barbara Dohmann QC, and provides strong support for the AIFC’s growth as an increasingly important and newly emerging financial hub in Asia.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding, the BAC and the IAC expect to have in-depth cooperation in respect of information and facilities sharing, project training, arbitrator referral and conference organization on the basis of friendship, mutual respect and mutual trust. It is agreed by both institutions that China and Kazakhstan are enjoying growingly close business and trade cooperation in recent years. Accordingly, there has been increasing requirements for commercial and investment dispute resolution services. Under this favorable circumstance, the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is not only a bridge and tie between the BAC and the IAC that is a good example of the cross-border and cross-institution cooperation between dispute resolution institutions in Belt and Road countries and regions, more importantly, it is well tailored to the ever-increasing dispute resolution needs of the Belt and Road economies. Also, this is in line with the BAC’s ambition of providing world class dispute resolution services to commercial entities from different countries and regions.
During their meeting, representatives of the two institutions had friendly and lively discussion on issues they both care about, such as arbitrator referral, the mode of exchange and cooperation between arbitration institutions and arbitrators and joint organization of events. Both parties looked into the mutual beneficial cooperation in the future, and explored the feasible plan of implementing their newly established cooperation framework. The BAC and the IAC believe that following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, they will jointly embrace a bright future of friendly cooperation, mutual trust and win-win outcome.
