Events

Second South Pacific International Arbitration Conference: Enhancing the Rule of Law & Increasing Business Confidence in a Globalized Economy

25 March 2019 to 26 March 2019

Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea

To raise awareness and discuss the positive development impact of international arbitration reform in the South Pacific, the Government of Papua New Guinea, in conjunction with ADB, UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific and other development partners and arbitral institutions, hosted the Second South Pacific International Arbitration Conference (the “Conference”). About 250 participants, including key government officials, policy makers, development partners, judges, law practitioners, and private sector participants from the South Pacific region, as well as international speakers, attended the event. The Conference provided in-depth knowledge on the practical aspects of different type of disputes in the region and globally. There were also specialized interactive concurrent breakout sessions tailored for different stakeholders such as private sector, law practitioners and judges.

Program and Learning Materials:

25 Mar 2019
26 Mar 2019

Date	Session / Activity	Presentation Material	Speaker(s)
25 Mar 2019	Session 1: International Arbitration: Promoting Confidence in International Business through Building on the Rule of Law	Promoting Confidence in International Business through Building on the Rule of Law Mr. David Tonkin, chief counsel for legal, procurement and fraud at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), briefed the participants...	David Tonkin
25 Mar 2019	Session 1: International Arbitration: Promoting Confidence in International Business through Building on the Rule of Law	Economics of International Arbitration Lastly, Prof. Dr. Jordi Paniagua, professor of economics at the University of Valencia, explained how international economic flows follow the gravity ...	Jordi Paniagua
25 Mar 2019	Session 3: Introduction to International Commercial Arbitration	Costs and Time in International Commercial Arbitration Mr. Kevin Nash talked about the costs and time involved in international commercial arbitration, noting the differences in costs and time between an institutional...	Kevin Nash
25 Mar 2019	Session 3: Introduction to International Commercial Arbitration	Ad Hoc and Institutional Arbitration Mr. Wesley Pang, managing counsel at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), provided an overview of ad hoc and institutional arbitration...	Wesley Pang
25 Mar 2019	Session 3: Introduction to International Commercial Arbitration	The Anatomy of International Arbitration Mr. Abhinav Bhushan, director for South Asia of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) International...	Abhinav Bhushan
25 Mar 2019	Session 3: Introduction to International Commercial Arbitration	Resolving Cross Border Commercial Disputes Ms. Bronwyn Lincoln, partner at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, spoke about ADR and the other ways of resolving commercial disputes between parties from different...	Bronwyn Lincoln

Date	Session / Activity	Presentation Material	Speaker(s)
26 Mar 2019	Session 5: New York Convention and the South Pacific Countries	Introduction to the New York Convention Ms. Koh introduced the audience to the New York Convention, which had 159 contracting parties at the time of the conference. The convention has been in...	Swee Yen Koh
26 Mar 2019	Session 7: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Energy Disputes	International Commercial Arbitration in Upstream Oil and Gas Vector Ms. Leah Ratcliff, of counsel at Jones Day, talked about upstream energy projects. According to her, these projects involve complex contracting structures...	Leah Ratcliff
26 Mar 2019	Session 7: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Energy Disputes	Gas Supply Transactions and Disputes Mr. Steven Finizio, partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, discussed about gas supply transactions and disputes. Gas supply disputes may...	Steven Finizio
26 Mar 2019	Session 7: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Energy Disputes	Exploration and Production Phase Mr. Shai Wade, partner at Stephenson Harwood LLP, focused on exploration and production, and the disputes that may arise during these stages, particularly...	Shai Wade
26 Mar 2019	Session 7: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Energy Disputes	Renewable Energy Disputes Mr. William B. Panlilio, associate at King & Spalding, zeroed in on renewable energy. He stressed that renewable energy will become an increasingly...	William Panlilio
26 Mar 2019	Session 8: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Financial Disputes	International Arbitration in Project Finance Transactions Mr. Prakash Pillai, partner at Clyde & Co Clasis Singapore Pte. Ltd., began by introducing the audience to the concept, parties involved, and typical...	Prakash Pillai
26 Mar 2019	Session 8: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Financial Disputes	Arbitrating Financial Disputes Mr. Finizio talked about the state of use of arbitration amongst the financial sector. On the one hand, arbitration is advantageous because of its enforceability...	Steven Finizio
26 Mar 2019	Session 8: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Financial Disputes	Experts in Financial Disputes Ms. Pandjaitan talked about the importance of expert arbitrators and independent experts in arbitrating financial disputes. Expert arbitrators, or those...	Jelita Pandjaitan
26 Mar 2019	Session 9: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Arbitration and Climate Change	Climate Finance Flows in the Pacific Ms. Ilona Millar, special counsel in the Environmental Markets team at Baker McKenzie, Sydney, briefly explained the concept of climate finance and discussed...	Ilona Millar
26 Mar 2019	Session 9: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Arbitration and Climate Change	Emerging Public Climate Finance Disputes: A Roadmap for Shifting Sands? Ms. Smith shared her insights on emerging trends in public climate finance disputes, including the various forms of disputes foreseen under the United...	Fedelma Claire Smith
26 Mar 2019	Session 9: Arbitrating Technical Issues – Arbitration and Climate Change	Emerging Private Climate Finance Disputes Ms. Delaney talked about emerging private climate finance disputes. Funding for climate-related projects may come from the public sector, the private ...	Jo Delaney
26 Mar 2019	Session 10-A: Concurrent Breakout Session for Lawyers: Drafting Arbitration Agreements	Drafting Arbitration Agreements Mr. McQueen said that arbitration agreements form part of the "bargain" agreed between parties to a contract and evidence the terms of such agreement. ...	Peter McQueen
26 Mar 2019	Session 10-A: Concurrent Breakout Session for Lawyers: Drafting Arbitration Agreements	Drafting of Arbitration Agreements Mr. Bhushan discussed the different aspects of drafting an arbitration clause, the important elements of an arbitration agreement and of a multi-tiered...	Abhinav Bhushan
26 Mar 2019	Session 10-A: Concurrent Breakout Session for Lawyers: Drafting Arbitration Agreements	Consent to Arbitration in Inter-State and "Mixed" Disputes Ms. Smith advised the audience on how to promote efficiency and legitimacy in arbitration proceedings, with emphasis on disputes involving states, state...	Fedelma Claire Smith
26 Mar 2019	Session 10-A: Concurrent Breakout Session for Lawyers: Drafting Arbitration Agreements	Arbitration in Papua New Guinea: Drafting Arbitration Agreements Mr. Daniel Kalderimis, partner at Chapman Tripp, talked about the objectives of drafting an arbitration clause: to promote enforceability, protect confidentiality...	Daniel Kalderimis
26 Mar 2019	Session 10-B: Concurrent Breakout Session for Private Sector: Contracting with Foreign Parties and Cross-Border Dispute Resolution	Contracting with Foreign Parties & Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Prof. Khory McCormick, vice president at ACICA, moderated the session. Mr. Rio Fiocco, president of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce & Industry...	Khory McCormick, Rio Fiocco, Swee Yen Koh, Shai Wade, Hyungkeun Lee
26 Mar 2019	Session 10-C: Concurrent Breakout Session for Judges: Implementation of the New York Convention - Judicial Perspective	International Arbitration - The Fiji Perspective Justice Suresh Chandra, justice of the Supreme Court and resident justice of appeal of the Court of Appeal of Fiji, shared Fiji's experience in ratifying...	Suresh Chandra
26 Mar 2019	Session 11: New Developments in Dispute Resolution	Developments in Institutions and Rules Mr. Finizio identified the measures used to promote efficiency and cost-effectiveness, such as early determination of claims and defenses and expedited...	Steven Finizio
26 Mar 2019	Session 11: New Developments in Dispute Resolution	Multiple Contracts, Consolidation and the 'Cross-Institution Consolidation Protocol' Mr. Nash dealt with cross-institution consolidation for complex, multi-party disputes.	Kevin Nash
26 Mar 2019	Session 11: New Developments in Dispute Resolution	New Developments in Dispute Resolution Mr. Bhushan spoke about transparency and code of ethics issues, particularly from ICC’s ethos for transparency and accountability towards users, lawyers...	Abhinav Bhushan
26 Mar 2019	Session 11: New Developments in Dispute Resolution	Arb-Med: A Hybrid Process Ms. Catherine Green, executive director of NZIAC, presented on the hybrid arbitration-mediation (Arb-Med) process, explaining how it works in practice...	Catherine Green
26 Mar 2019	Session 11: New Developments in Dispute Resolution	The Intersection of the New York Convention and the Singapore Convention Prof. McCormick discussed the intersection between the New York Convention and the Singapore Convention on Mediation and the practices in recent years...	Khory McCormick