I. Introduction 1. The Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) has been concerned with the matters concerning international commercial arbitration since its Tokyo Session held in 1974. At that Session, AALCO endorsed the recommendations of its Trade Law Sub-Committee, that efforts should be made by Member States to develop institutional arbitration in the Asian and African regions. At the Baghdad Session held in 1977, the discussion was focused on an Integrated Scheme for Settlement of Disputes in the Economic and Commercial Matters, prepared by the Secretariat. At the Doha Session in 1978, it was decided to establish two regional Arbitration Centers, one in Kuala Lumpur and another one in Cairo. It was envisaged that the two centers would function as international institutions under the auspices of AALCO with the following objectives:- (a) Promoting international commercial arbitration in Asian and African regions; (b) Co-ordinating and assisting the activities of existing arbitral institutions, particularly among those within the two regions; (c) Rendering assistance in the conduct of ad hoc arbitrations, particularly those held under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules; (d) Assisting in the enforcement of arbitral awards; and (e) Providing for arbitration under the auspices of the two centers where appropriate. 2. In pursuance of the above decision, an Agreement was concluded in April 1978 between the AALCO and the Government of Malaysia in respect of establishment of a Regional Center for Arbitration in Kuala Lumpur. A similar Agreement was concluded in January 1979 with the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt in respect of establishment of a Regional Center for Arbitration in Cairo. The Agreements recognized the status of the Centers as intergovernmental organizations and conferred certain immunities and privileges for their independent functioning. The host Governments also offered suitable premises, financial grants and necessary staff to run the Centers. The Centers adopted UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules with suitable modifications and offered their services to any party whether within or outside the region for the administered arbitration and facilities for arbitration whether ad hoc or under the auspices of any other institution. 3. AALCO took upon the promotional functions for the centers in certain specified areas. It entered into Agreements with the World Bank’s Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes which envisaged that arbitration proceedings under the ICSID Convention of 1965 could be held in Kuala Lumpur or Cairo if the parties so agree. In order to encourage arbitration related to shipping matters, AALCO entered into agreement with the Japan Shipping Exchange Inc. which offered facilities for holding arbitration at the Kuala Lumpur Center. 1 4. AALCO’s success in promoting institutional arbitration in the Asian and African regions encouraged it to establish two more Regional Arbitration Centers in Lagos and Tehran respectively. 5. An Agreement was concluded with the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1980 for the location of a third Center in Lagos and the same was formally inaugurated in March 1989. On 26th April 1999, Hon’ble Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim OFR (SAN), the then Attorney General and Minister of Justice, on behalf of Nigeria and H.E.Mr. Tang Chengyuan, the then Secretary-General of the AALCO, signed an Agreement which formalized the continued functioning of the Center for a period of five years with effect from January 1999 to December 2004. 6. An Agreement was concluded between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and AALCO on 3 May 1997, for the establishment of a Regional Center for Arbitration in Tehran. The Agreement, among other things, provides that the Center would function under the auspices of the AALCO. 7. Although in the beginning the promotional activities of its Regional Arbitration Centers were primarily carried out by the AALCO, in view of experience accumulated over the years and the contacts established by these centers with Governments, governmental agencies and international institutions, such promotional activities are now mainly carried out by the Centers themselves. Such promotional activities are highlighted in the Reports of the Directors of the respective Centers. However, AALCO Secretariat periodically organizes international conferences and seminars aimed at promoting awareness about the role and functions of the Regional Centers for Arbitration. 8. It is a matter of great satisfaction that, over the years, there has been considerable increase in the number of cases, both international and domestic, referred to AALCO’s Regional Arbitration Centres. The types of cases include oil contracts, insurance, intellectual property, construction contracts etc. and involve both public and private sectors. The resolution of commercial disputes by other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods such as Mediation and Conciliation under the Rules of AALCO Centres is another option being favoured by the Parties. 9. An important function of the Directors of AALCO’s Centres has been to act as an Appointing Authority in many arbitrations. The Centres have been organizing international conferences, seminars and training courses in their respective regions. In addition, the conclusion of co-operation Agreements with other arbitration institutions have been actively pursued by the Directors of the Centres. 10. The Reports of the Directors of the Cairo, Kula Lumpur and Lagos Centres set out in the following part give details of the activities of the respective centers. 2 11. With a view to enhance the role and activities of the AALCO Regional Arbitration Centers, the Secretary-General would like to urge the Member States to fully support the growing activities of these Centres and consider making financial contributions to help in the implementation of their plans and activities. Further, in this context, two concrete suggestions for their consideration are as follows: (i) The Member States may consider designating a body, for example, the national chamber of commerce or other industrial promotion organizations to be associated with the AALCO Regional Arbitration Centers as the Liaison Agency within the country, with a view to promoting the activities of AALCO Centers. (ii) Whilst entering into contracts on behalf of the Government, Public Corporations and other Government Undertakings, consideration might be given to including an arbitration clause for settlement of disputes under the arbitration rules of AALCO’s regional arbitration Center, where it is considered expedient for such disputes and differences being settled through AALCO’s Regional Arbitration Centres. 12. Such an encouragement from the Member States would further boost the work of AALCO’s Regional Arbitration Centres. 3 II. PROGRESS REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CAIRO REGIONAL CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION (CRCICA) FOR THE PERIOD JULY 2002 – MARCH 2003 AS PRESENTED BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE DR. M.I.M. ABOUL-ENEIN Introductory Note by the Director We are proud to notice that the Centre has raised its profile all over the world and that there is a remarkable increase in our case referrals. The remarkable growth of the quantificational importance of cases is also quite interesting . Over the few past years, the CRCICA witnessed a number of important cases involving significant trademarks in both the Arab and the international marketplace. It is also being noticed with satisfaction that major infrastructure contracts in the area, especially the Hosting Country, come to involve the CRCICA Arbitration Clause. One of the recent examples in this concern is the International Gas Exportation Agreement Egypt entered into with France in January 2002 to export Egyptian Liquidated Natural Gas ( ELNG ) over 20 whole years by a capacity of 3.6 millions tons of gas annually. As we have a prideful present, we avow to plan a better future. Out of this perception, the CRCICA plans to intensify institutional responsiveness towards the different sectors of trade, commerce and industry and has accordingly set up an expansion of activities scheme on both the geographical and the substantial levels. In 2001, the Centre established two new branches being the Alexandria Centre for International Commercial Arbitration and the Mediation and ADR Centre and is currently working on similar future projects of expansion including the establishment of a Branch in Ismailia, a vital Egyptian City and the seat of the Suez Canal Authority. Parallel to horizontal expansion in space, the CRCICA plans a vertical development of services by negotiating the establishment of sectoral ADR branches to handle business disputes of special nature. Within the bounds of this, the CRCICA contemplates the possibility of establishing a Branch for the Settlement of Banking Disputes. To this end, it is scheduled to hold an international conference on this type of disputes in 2003 jointly with the World Bank to see through the different aspects and peculiarities involved and introduce other international institutional initiatives. It is also worth noting that the Centre is approached as a key expert-organization to provide assistance in establishing and operating an arbitration center for the settlement of stock exchange disputes. Similarly, the Centre will start considering the establishment of new locations in the about-to-be-launched Free Economic Zones after the promulgation of Law no. 83/2002 issued in June 2002 in this concern.