ICSID to open first overseas office in Singapore to handle regional investment disputes

Singapore, Aug 25 (PTI) The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an international arbitration institution, will set up its first staffed office outside the US in Singapore to handle regional dispute prevention, resolution and education.

"The ICSID Singapore Office will serve as a regional hub, to allow the ICSID to better serve the region's needs in investment dispute prevention, resolution and education,” Law Minister Edwin Tong said on Monday while announcing the signing of a letter of intent to formalise the office's establishment.

Describing it as a "significant milestone", he said ICSID is one of the five World Bank Group organisations serving as a forum for investor-state dispute settlement in most international investment treaties and in many investment laws and contracts.

The Washington-headquartered ICSID will also make Singapore the first country to have the local offices of all five World Bank Group organisations.

The four World Bank Group organisations with offices currently located in Singapore are: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the International Finance Corporation, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.

"We warmly welcome ICSID to Singapore, which will undoubtedly strengthen Singapore’s service offerings as a hub for international dispute resolution and thought leadership,” Tong was quoted as saying by Channel News Asia.

The minister stated that he visited ICSID’s Washington office in June, where he met its Secretary-General Martina Polasek and signed a memorandum of understanding to register mutual interest in setting up the Singapore office. PTI GS SKS SKS ZH ZH