Resolving disputes: IFSC ties up with Singapore arbitration body

Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Ltd (GIFTCL) and GIFT SEZ Ltd (GIFT SEZ), on Thursday, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

Under the MoA, GIFTCL, GIFT SEZ and SIAC will collaborate to promote the use of arbitration, mediation, and other dispute resolution mechanisms, including the innovative Arb-Med-Arb service offered by the SIAC and the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC), to resolve international commercial disputes in India's International Financial Services Centre at GIFT, Ajay Pandey, Managing Director and CEO, GIFTCL, said.

Under the MoA, SIAC will establish a representative office in the IFSC-GIFT, which will be instrumental in promoting SIAC’s world-class international arbitration services to Indian users. Indian parties have consistently ranked amongst the top five foreign users of SIAC in the last five years, and were the top foreign user of SIAC in 2013 and 2015.

‘Preferred mechanism’ Pandey said any successful IFSC requires an efficient dispute resolution mechanism. SIAC is the choice partner for IFSC-GIFT as Singapore is a reputable seat of arbitration. SIAC and the SIAC Rules are already widely used by Indian companies, as well as international companies investing in India, to resolve their disputes.

Through this collaboration, the Indian and international businesses in the IFSC-GIFT will be able to choose SIAC as their preferred mode of dispute resolution.

Lim Seok Hui, CEO of SIAC and SIMC, said the partnership with GIFTCL and GIFT SEZ opens new doors for SIAC to promote its services to businesses and investors within the IFSC-GIFT.