Hassan Al -Sitry
Yesterday, the Board of Development of International Trade Dispute Disputes IDs hosted a workshop on negotiations and settlements between investors and countries, in which a number of officials and employees in the government sector participated in the investment agreements negotiations, cooperation with the legislative authority, negotiating contracts, and settling disputes.
This workshop, which is moderated by Ken Hayat, the director of CMPARTNERS and the former deputy of the US Department of Commerce for International Trade, which was previously part of the Harvard negotiation project founded by Roger Fisher in 1979 to develop the negotiation theory and its practices, as one of the results of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Council and the International Center for the settlement of the World Bank’s investment disputes in February 2025, where it was held. A series of workshops have been held over the past four days of a group of judges, employees of the Economic Development Council, specialists and practitioners from the Kingdom and the Middle East region.
In her opening speech, the Secretary -General of the Council announced Professor Marika Patrani Paulsen in her opening speech to launch a series of specialized workshops in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Asia and other regions in the field of mediation and negotiations in the settlement of investment disputes, in addition to forming a work team to cooperate with the International Center for the settlement of investment disputes, the international bank, the United Nations Commercial Commercial Law, and the development banks to formulate models Legislative and organizational to address a number of challenges in the field of investment disputes, in a qualitative initiative, the first of its kind; Which supports the consolidation of the active role of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the field of dispute settlement.
She emphasized that Bahrain is the first country in the world to launch a tour of the settlement of conflicts. She said: “We started in cooperation with Harvard and“ International Center for Settlement of Investment Disptes ”a series of training workshops that included the investment community, the judiciary, the legal community, and now with government representatives, where representatives of 12 ministries participate today to learn how to negotiate and how to overcome the challenges of reaching“ political blessings ”and ensuring protection Official ».
She said on the sidelines of a workshop on mediation and negotiation in investment disputes.
She indicated that «one of the biggest challenges in the world of international disputes at the present time is that all leaders around the world are trying to find effective ways to settle disputes by peaceful means.
What I always repeat is: If merchants see that peaceful trade is profit, they will not tend to disrupt them through conflict, but despite the efforts made for years, we have not yet achieved sufficient success, then officials sometimes hesitate to enter negotiations for fear that they will be accused of corruption, and many countries do not reach “political yes”. More importantly, the world needs skilled brokers who are able to resolve conflicts between investors and countries. ”
She continued: «We have received invitations from neighboring countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to host these workshops next year, and from there we will start to Asia and beyond.
Thus, Bahrain will be the first country in the world to launch an international tour to promote the mediation of the investor -state dispute, as we agreed yesterday to cooperate with the World Bank, the Latin American Development Bank, and the United Nations to develop model legislation and systems that facilitate access to “political blessings” and official protection. Thus, we make history today. ”
She added: “It is a pride in Bahrain to be in the global leadership site in the field of negotiating, diplomatic and mediation solutions, which will make it a prominent international center in breaking up and settling disputes. The matter will not be limited to this, but the Kingdom will also become a safe and stable legal environment, which makes it the ideal destination to attract investments.
Today we can say to investors: Investing in Bahrain is safe, when we look at the region and the world, we find that what distinguishes Bahrain is its unique institutional structure: we have coordination between government agencies and bilateral courts, and we have adopted most important international treaties, and now we cooperate with the most prominent international institutions to offer an integrated “list of options” to settle disputes, and when effective and reliable mechanisms are available to silver Conflicts, the flow of investments will increase. It is a profitable equation for everyone. ”
For his part, the director of the International Relations Department at the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, Sheikh Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, said: “This workshop aims to develop and enhance the capabilities of the employees of the Kingdom of Bahrain, especially in the field of negotiations related to dispute resolution.
I would like to emphasize the great importance of the dispute settlement process for the Kingdom of Bahrain, as it plays a prominent role in strengthening the investment and economic environment and attracting foreign and local capital alike.
He continued: «With regard to the Ministry of Finance and National Economy, we are also responsible for an agreement to encourage and protect investment. This agreement includes setting appropriate mechanisms to deal with issues that may arise between the state and investors, in a manner that ensures the achievement of the interests of all parties. This workshop directly contributes to building the skills of negotiating teams within the ministry.
While the Director of the Department of Developers Affairs in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning Abdullah Ahmed Al -Sharaf stressed that this type of training workshop is of great importance, especially because it deals with how to resolve conflicts and negotiate with the various parties.
With the government’s tendency to enhance partnership with the private sector, these workshops become an extreme tool in promoting culture and developing the necessary skills that help government employees to reach solutions to the compatibility of the Ministry’s goals and partners, and meet the needs of citizens in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
He explained that these workshops offer a set of skills that contribute to improving negotiating capabilities through training on multiple axes.
