Int'l arbitration centre in Lanka soon

By Ranil WIJAYAPALA

An international arbitration centre is to be opened in Sri Lanka to attract international arbitrators to the island, Justice Ministry Secretary Kamalini de Silva told the Sunday Observer.

"We are in the process of establishing a state-of-the-art centre for this facility at the World Trade Centre and planning to open this centre next year", she said.

Arbitration is a private means of dispute resolution whereby the concerned parties agree to be bound by the decision of an arbitrator of their choice whose decision is final and whose award has the legal force of a High Court judgement or order.

Arbitration has been identified as a better means of resolving disputes in the areas of building and civil engineering contracts, shipping, imports, exports and international trade, foreign investment agreements, commodities trading, partnership disputes, insurance contracts, intellectual property agreements and rent review in commercial leases and many other fields.

She said Sri Lanka has been identified as an ideal location for such a centre due to its geographical position.

The acceptance of Sri Lanka as a neutral venue is also an advantage for us to attract more international businesses", she said.

"We can have this facility in Sri Lanka at a low cost compared to other countries such as Singapore or Malaysia. We have all the resources needed for such an international arbitration centre and we are taking steps to implement that project step by step", she said.

"We have to provide these services in accordance with international standards. We believe we can take up that challenge effectively and provide the type of services needed as we have a conducive environment for such a facility at the World Trade Centre. We are now working with two local arbitration centres to make this project a success", she said.

She said the facility should be established as an independent institution and we should provide the location to facilitate international arbitrations.

"Sri Lanka can immensely benefit from having such an international arbitration centre, but it depends on the success of the project. e.g. - Singapore became successful many years after established an international arbitration centre, she said.