«ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ РАЗВИТИЯ МЕЖДУНАРОДНОГО КОММЕРЧЕСКОГО
АРБИТРАЖА В УЗБЕКИСТАНЕ»
Сборник международной научно-практической конференции
7
OPENING SPEECH
A very warm welcome from the Philippines, honorable Judges,
distinguished representatives of the Supreme Court and officials of the Ministry,
Vice-Rector Dr. Ismailova, ladies and gentlemen.
It’s a great privilege to be part of this important and timely conference, and
I would like to extend my special gratitude to the UWED for inviting me to make
a speech. I hope that the students will have much success in the moot court
competition.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate greatly the government of the Republic
of Uzbekistan and all involved enactment of the Law on International Commercial
Arbitration. Indeed, Uzbekistan took a significant step forward with the adoption
of the ICA Law based on the UNICITRAL Model Law.
It was explained by the previous speakers that UNICITRAL Model Law is a
globally accepted Model Law with wide adoption and the ICA Law is also state of
the art with add-ons to reflect best international practices. ADB and our experts,
Sherzodbek and Tom, here with us today were very pleased to assist the
government.
It was a pleasure for ADB to assist the government of Uzbekistan with the
state-of-the-art International Commercial Arbitration Law and we really look
forward to continuing our support on the implementation of the Law.
Over the years ADB has been investing a lot in various dispute resolution
initiatives in our client countries that are critical in supporting key areas of
development such as fostering, foreign direct investment, cross-border trade,
private sector development, public-private partnership and expanding the digital
economy as well as effective dispute resolution mechanism to help and attract
international finance and investments, ultimately, to achieve the sustainable
development goals.
More recently, over the last six years, ADB has been supporting
international commercial arbitration reform efforts including helping states to
sign on New York Convention, drafting, and implementing arbitration law as well
as assisting to develop arbitration regulations and court rules, capacity building
of parties as well as the development of knowledge resources.
We also help to convene international arbitration conferences such as this
conference today to help countries stay abreast of new developments and
emerging disputes. One major barrier to attracting FDI and private sector growth
is the lack of investors’ confidence in available and efficient mechanisms to
resolve commercial disputes between people from different countries.
In recent decades international arbitration has become the preferred means
of resolving international commercial disputes all over the world and this is
because of many benefits such as flexibility and the ability to choose a neutral
«ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ РАЗВИТИЯ МЕЖДУНАРОДНОГО КОММЕРЧЕСКОГО
АРБИТРАЖА В УЗБЕКИСТАНЕ»
Сборник международной научно-практической конференции
8
form of impartial arbitrators with subject matter expertise for the different types
of disputes that are emerging and flexible procedures and choice of governing law
as well as other benefits such as confidentiality and importantly the ability to
enforce foreign arbitral awards and currently, 169 under the New York
Convention.
Studies have shown that a country has a sound legal framework for
international commercial arbitration leading to the accession to the New York
Convention and the adoption of implementing our arbitration law based on the
UNICITRAL Model Law. It does have a positive impact on the ability to attract FDI.
The new ICA Law is an important development to help Uzbekistan attract
investment for infrastructure, and tourism, among other sectors. It will also help
to improve the overall business climate for private sector development and
reduce the cost of doing business and improve the international standing of
Uzbekistan in various indices.
I understand that Uzbekistan is one of the top improvers and climbed
up 14 positions in the 2021 World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index. More
recently during COVID-19, international arbitration has been part of COVID
recovery packages. During the last two years, ADB assisted several of our member
countries with accession to the New York Convention as well as drafting and
implementing arbitration law which reform will help growth in these countries.
Additionally, international arbitration reform was critical in attracting
foreign lenders for a renewable energy project in one of our South Pacific member
countries. A foreign investor flagged us as a material risk – the lack of an
international arbitration legal framework necessitated the government to take
action.
Thus, what is next for the further development of international commercial
arbitration in Uzbekistan, the effective implementation of the ICA Law will be
critical to this end, the ancillary law needs to be put in place to clearly set out the
procedural aspects of international commercial arbitration.
Moreover, the judiciary plays a key role in the effective implementation of
the ICA Law. Critical in demonstrating the pro-arbitration approach of Uzbekistan
to the international arbitration community in recognition of the judiciary’s
important role in supporting international arbitral proceedings and facilitating
appropriate recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards.
I’m excited to inform you that ADB has recently enacted and entered into a
partnership with Uzbekistan Supreme Court to roll out a capacity-building
program for the economic court judges as well as the development of valuable
knowledge resources on international arbitration issues.
In fact, we have just signed out Activity Plan for this year with the first
training to be held in May. This work is supported under a separate ADB technical
assistance called Strengthening Judicial Capacity Towards Sustainable Economic
Development in Asia and the Pacific.
«ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ РАЗВИТИЯ МЕЖДУНАРОДНОГО КОММЕРЧЕСКОГО
АРБИТРАЖА В УЗБЕКИСТАНЕ»
Сборник международной научно-практической конференции
9
Furthermore, it will be important to support the capacity building of the
private sector and the legal community. As the users the private sector needs to
know how international arbitration works to encourage greater uptake of this
available dispute resolution mechanism.
At the same time, lawyers as arbitration counsels and potential arbitrators
require training in international arbitration law and practice. ADB plans to
support capacity-building events for the private sector and legal community later
this year and I’m hoping we can deliver these trainings in person. I’m really
looking forward to visiting Uzbekistan soon.
Nevertheless, it is critical for development partners and the international
arbitration community to continue to provide capacity building to the judiciary
and the legal community. This will have a positive impact on the attractiveness of
Uzbekistan as a place to invest and do business.
Finally, I would like to urge the government of Uzbekistan to publish an
English translation of the ICA Law to let foreign investors know that Uzbekistan
is open for business.
International arbitration is still emerging in Uzbekistan and rest of the
Central Asia and how it will develop depends on its uptake by the private sector,
further developments to the capacity of the judiciary and the legal profession, and
international investors’ confidence in Uzbekistan as a credible seat of arbitration.
So, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak to you
today. I wish you a very fruitful conference!
Thank you.
Christina Pak
Principal Counsel & Team Leader,
Law and Policy Reform,
Asian Development Bank
