The Singapore Ministry of Law and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) have signed a letter of intent to officially establish an ICSID office in the Lion City, which marks the global arbitration institution’s first staffed office outside its Washington headquarters.
“The office will serve as a regional hub for capacity building and training in investment dispute prevention and resolution,” Martina Polasek, secretary-general of the ICSID, told Asia Business Law Journal.
The letter of intent was signed by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong SC and Polasek during Singapore Convention Week in August.
The ICSID Singapore Office will be based at the World Bank Group Singapore Office in Marina Boulevard, with additional satellite premises at Maxwell Chambers Suites, an international dispute resolution complex.
The new office will support the ICSID in administering cases, providing capacity building and training, and engaging more closely with government officials, law practitioners and organisations in Singapore and across the region.
The ICSID’s presence in Singapore would help the institution build closer connections and promote the appointment of arbitrators, conciliators and mediators from the Asia-Pacific region, ensuring that ICSID panels reflect a broad spectrum of cultural, legal and professional backgrounds, said Polasek.
The ICSID’s core purpose is to promote foreign investment by providing a neutral forum for resolving disputes between investors and states. As one of five organisations under the World Bank Group, the ICSID currently has 158 contracting states.
Singapore became a contracting member state when it ratified the ICSID Convention in 1968. Since then, Singapore has actively participated in the ICSID process by designating local lawyers, arbitrators and mediators for the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators and Panel of Conciliators, to be available for selection in ICSID tribunals, conciliation commissions, and ad hoc committees.
