International Arbitration in Asia Pacific: adapting to new normal and beyond

The international arbitration market had to adapt and evolve rapidly to deal with the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only is technology increasingly being utilised to facilitate arbitration proceedings, remote and virtual hearings are becoming the “new normal”. One also see the emergence of new forms of commercial and investor-state disputes arising from the passing and implementation of governmental legislation and regulations and increasing invocation of material adverse effect/change clauses.

Asia Pacific has been at the forefront of innovation and developments in international arbitration, and will continue to do so. How will the practice of international arbitration in Asia Pacific adapt to the new era of social distancing ushered in by the Covid-19 pandemic, and develop best practices embracing the “new normal” with its diversity in culture, legal systems, languages and traditions? Such innovation and developments shall be discussed and presented in various aspects including:

• What developments have been observed and made in international arbitrations with Asia Pacific elements in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic
• Which of these developments can be expected to impact the practice of international arbitration globally?
• In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, what will dispute resolution mechanism look like?

Each session will be followed by a 30-minute networking session for attendees to join and chat with speakers and other participants.