First session: The Rise of international arbitration in the Gulf States

09:00 Panel 1

Building a new arbitral institution: The Dubai International Arbitration Centre
- How is its caseload developing?

Nael Bunni, Chair of the Executive Committee,
Board of Trustees, Dubai International Arbitration Centre, Dublin
Salah Al-Hejailan, Board of Trustees,
Dubai International Arbitration Centre, Riyad
Fathi Kemicha, Board of Trustees,
Dubai International Arbitration Centre, Tunis

10:00 Coffee

10:30 Panel 2

Adapting the legal environment in The United Arab Emirates :

- acceeding to the New York Convention
- adopting a modern arbitration law
- informing the State Court Judges

Ibrahim Ahmed Ibrahim, Board of Trustees,
Dubai International Arbitration Centre, Heliopolis
Hussam Talhuni, Director,
Dubai International Arbitration Centre, Dubai
Michael Schneider, Board of Trustees,
Dubai International Arbitration Centre; Lalive, Geneva

11:30 Panel 3

The ICC and the new arbitration centres in the Arab world.

Charles C. Adams, Board of Trustees,
Dubai International Arbitration Centre; Hogan & Hartson, Geneva
Nasser Al Zaid, Secretary General G.C.C. Commercial Arbitration Centre, Bahrain
Pierre Tercier, Chairman, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Fribourg

Second session: International arbitration in a broad world: some current issues

14:15 Panel 4

Women arbitrators - in Arab States, elsewhere

Nayla Commaire-Obeid, Obeid Law Firm, Beirut
Antonias Dimolitsa, A. Dimolitsa and Associates, Athens
Rabab Yasseen, Mentha & Partners, Geneva

15:15 Panel 5

Investment arbitration: are Host States on the losing side?

Brigitte Stern, University of Paris I, Paris
Thomas Wälde, University of Dundee, Dundee
Guiguo Wang, Dean, City University of Hong Kong Law School, Hong Kong

16:15 Coffee

16:45 Panel 6

Is There a pro-Western bias in arbitral awards? Pacta sunt servanda vs rebus sic stantibus

Abdel Hamid El Ahdab, President of the Arab Association for International Arbitration, Beirut
Ibrahim Fadlallah, Professor Emeritus Paris X, Paris
Serge Lazareff, Chairman, ICC Institute of World Business Law, Paris
Charles Molineaux, Independent Arbitrator, Washington, D.C.

The conference will end at 18:00