An official at the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) said that two confidential reports from the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AFDB) showed that the CRCICA is independent from all parties and fits within the international standards for foreign arbitration.
He told Daily News Egypt that the World Bank was about to finance electricity and energy projects in Egypt in 2012, sending a committee consisting of a number of experts to follow up on the performance of CRCICA for six months.
International financial institutions refused to finance new and renewable energy projects through a feed-in tariff system, protesting that international arbitration be conducted in Egypt in the case of any dispute. They demanded that the place of arbitration be moved outside of Egypt.
According to the official, when financial institutions agree to lend money to any other country, such as France, Germany, or Switzerland, the parties of dispute resort to arbitration within the country of origin, raising questions as to why they refused the arbitration in Egypt.
The World Bank concluded a report on issued arbitration awards as well as the arbitrators. The report, the official said, came out positive and asserted that all the international measures adopted at CRCICA hold, stressing that there is no problem with conducting any arbitration inside Egypt.
In a similar context, the African Development Bank also observed CRCICA and sent a committee including a Swiss office and three other international centres. The report asserted that CRCICA is fully independent, the awards are being executed, arbitrators are impartial, and the centre meets all international criteria.
The official pointed out that CRCICA does apply international arbitration measures, proven by the confidential reports issued by financing bodies. In addition, the World Bank has guiding rules to approve financing any project of which they are exactly the same of CRCICA.
There are 1,090 arbitration cases filed before the CRCICA throughout the first quarter of this year. These cases included disputes related to services, construction, media, entertainment, hotel management, tourism, and telecommunications.
The official pointed out that disputes related to services agreements were among the most notable of the disputes during the first quarter of 2016. There are six of these cases; three of which are related to petroleum services provided in agreement with the regime. The state grants concessions in oil fields located in Egypt’s Eastern Desert, the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile Delta, and Sinai.
The fourth case includes an international case related to the contract signed to provide medical device sterilisation services to health care facilities and industries in Egypt.
The fifth case is related to the preparation of comprehensive advisory studies for rain water, floods, sewage water, and flood protection.
The sixth case includes collection of industrial, residential, commercial, and service wastes as a means of cleaning up the streets and public utilities in Cairo.
The CRCICA is an international, independent non-profit organisation established in 1979 under the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization. The organisation’s establishment came after the 1978 decision to establish regional centres for international commercial arbitration in Asia and Africa.
