Regional arbitration centre opens

The AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre, under the auspices of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) was officially opened today.

At the opening ceremony, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng said she hoped that together with the existing AALCO arbitration centres in Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, Iran and Kenya, the centre will stand united by the ideals of friendship and collaboration by promoting trade and investment in the Asian-African region.

She also thanked the Central People’s Government and the AALCO for their staunch support and trust.

Ms Cheng said that the Department of Justice looks forward to working with the centre and the legal and dispute resolution community to promote Hong Kong as an international legal and dispute resolution hub.

The AALCO is the only inter-governmental legal consultative organisation in the Asian and African region comprising almost all the major states from Asia and Africa.

Regional arbitration centres under its auspices function as international institutions with the objective of promoting international commercial arbitration in the Asian-African region and conducting international arbitrations.

Adding to the five existing regional arbitration centres, the centre in Hong Kong will act as a co-ordinating agency in the AALCO dispute settlement system, aiming to promote the growth and effective functioning of arbitration institutions and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services, including online dispute resolution services, to promote the wider application of various ADR rules within the Asian and Pacific region, to provide facilities for ADR services and to provide assistance in the enforcement of arbitral awards.

Located at the Shanghai Commercial Bank Tower in Central, the centre forms part of the Hong Kong Legal Hub

https://www.news.gov.hk/eng/2022/05/20220525/20220525_193618_523.html