China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and Kunming International Commercial Arbitration Service Centre (KICASC) opined that Dhaka may be the seat of arbitration for resolving disputes involving Chinese investors and joint ventures in Bangladesh.
The observation came in a training programme on China – Bangladesh International Arbitration at a hotel in the Kunming Economic and Technology Development Zone, Kunming, China jointly organized by Bangladesh International Arbitration Centre (BIAC) and Kunming International Commercial Arbitration Service Centre (KICASC) on 22-26th April.
The training programme was coordinated by Yunnan-Bengal Business Information Consultation Co. Ltd of China and Bangladesh. Further in a meeting held between Ms. Zhang Jingmei, the Director of the KICASC, Ms. Mahbuba Rahman Runa, Senior Counsel, BIAC and Mr. Li Hu, Deputy Secretary General of CIETAC, it was also decided that cases of CIETAC and KICASC in Bangladesh will be referred to BIAC to administer the cases. BIAC will sign cooperation agreement with CIETAC. Moreover CIETAC showed interest of adding Bangladeshi Arbitrators in their panel referred by BIAC. The same can be done on behalf of BIAC. In the training programme Senior Counsel of BIAC informed the participants about the membership of BIAC in which they had shown keen interest.
Ms. Zhang Jingmei, Director General KICASC, had delivered her welcome speech in which she expressed her intention to further strengthen the relationship between KICASC and BIAC and hoped that the training session will be fruitful while Ms. Mahbuba Rahman, Senior Counsel BIAC delivered her speech with presentation on Introduction of BIAC with its recent activities in promotion of ADR in Commercial Disputes. She expressed her gratitude to KICASC and believes that BIAC and KICASC will continue to maintain mutual liaison and help progress the ADR scenario in both Bangladesh and China. Mr. Li Hu, Deputy Secretary General of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) also presented an introduction of their organisation. Ms. He Yunhong, Secretary of the working committee of the Kunming Economic & Technological Development Zone (KETDZ) indicated how their organisation dose research to popularise arbitration.
On 25th April 2019, the graduation ceremony commenced with the speech of host, Ms. Zhang Jingmei, the Director General of the KICASC. Ms. Mahbuba Rahman, Senior Counsel of BIAC gave her vote of thanks to everyone and hoped that the participants will apply this experience in their respective fields of work. She also expressed her wish to have a stronger connection and support from KICASC.
Bangladeshi participant, Mr. Md Golam Sorwar Bhuiyan, Project Director of Basic Infrastructure for HI Tech Park Sylhet (Sylhet Electronic City) who advocated for boosting the relationship between China and Bangladesh so that Chinese investors may come forward to invest in the HI Tech Park in Sylhet.
The other participant from China, Adam Fu, Attorney-at-Law, Head of CITGP and Advisor to KICASC, expressed his sincere gratitude to all the organisers who helped the program to be a success and hoped a better relationship to be grown between China and Bangladesh by the virtue of international commercial arbitration.
Mr. Li Heliu, Director of Kunming Economic & Technological Development Zone (KETDZ) Administrative Committee also thanked the organisers for the successful session and congratulated the participants who completed the training. Moreover, he provided a summary regarding the history and current scenario of KETDZ. He furthermore noted this platform to be a springboard to be used to further enhance the international business environment and promote economic and trade exchanges and investment cooperation of the two countries.
Mr. Xu Zhenfeng, Director of the Kunming Municipal Bureau of Commerce upheld the high quality trainers, mentioned the sophistication of the contents of the training materials, praised the trainers for the teaching and highlighted the abundance of achievements from the session.
A total of 18 participants from Bangladesh participated. The participants included officials from Bangladesh Bank, representatives from commercial banks, prominent lawyers and corporate officials. They were given consultant appointment of KICASC.
22 participants were from China. Amongst them were eminent arbitrators, lawyers and esteemed university faculty members.
Certificates were distributed among the Bangladeshi and Chinese participants. Barrister Imtiaz Farooq and Barrister Nabil Ahsan were the trainers from Bangladesh, while Mr. Chen Yundong, Professor, School of Law, Yunnan University, Kumming, China was the trainer from China.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between KICASC and BIAC in which both parties had shown their intention to discuss and explore the possibilities of international arbitration, jointly organising seminars, training and workshops, and consider KICASC as an alternate venue for arbitration.
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