Maldives to establish int’l arbitration center

Maldives to establish int’l arbitration center

SAM Staff,
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In a bid to resolve trade disputes out of court, Maldives government is looking to establish an international arbitration center in the archipelago. The country feels that the absence of an arbitration center proves a difficult proposition for businesses to resolve various trade disputes through the courts.
Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom announced the initiative on 5 December, after inaugurating a colloquium named ‘Doing Business in Maldives - A Judicial Perspective’.
The primary difficulty is to translate the various international business related documents to the local language to file a dispute in a court of law, the president said stressing on the need for a change.
Yameen also noted that as Maldives attracts more and more foreign investments, the country is in dire need for a strong dispute resolution mechanism.
The Maldivian government is presently engaged in talks with Singapore and Malaysia to establish an arbitration center.
The government was forced to resolve the row over a contract to develop the archipelago’s main airport through a Singapore-based arbitration tribunal.
In February, the tribunal ruled in favor of the GMR group of companies based in India on its dispute with the Maldives government on the airport project.
The government had settled the USD271 million payout to the Indian company.

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