Riyadh International Disputes Week 2025 (RIDW), a premier global event brought together legal experts, policymakers, and industry leaders to discuss emerging trends and developments in dispute resolution. Held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the event serves as a platform for knowledge-sharing, networking, and advancing legal frameworks in international arbitration, mediation, and litigation. With a strong focus on innovation and regional collaboration, RIDW 2025 reinforces Riyadh’s position as a key player in the global dispute landscape.
On 25-02-2025, during the third day of RIDW, leading legal experts convened at the Hilton Riyadh Hotels and Residences for the session “Arbitration in the MEASA Region: Roadmap to 2030.” Hosted by Fox & Mandal (Estd. 1896), the session featured a fireside chat with R. Venkataramani, Ld. Attorney General for India (Ld. AGI); Toby Landau KC, Barrister & Arbitrator at Duxton Hill Chambers (Singapore Group Practise); and Kunal Vajani, Joint Managing Partner at Fox & Mandal; moderated by Tariq Khan, Head of International Arbitration at M&CO Legal. The session was attended by His Excellency Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, amongst other experts and practitioners of arbitration and dispute resolution.
In his opening address, Kunal alluded to the roadmap to 2030, witnessing a further integration of MEASA into global markets, especially in sectors like energy, infrastructure, finance and technology. He highlighted the need for an effective dispute resolution mechanism, with special focus on arbitration, for addressing international commercial and investment disputes in the context of the growing prominence in global trade and investment in the region.
Kunal also underscored the benefits and relevance of arbitration as a preferred mechanism especially in the light of the ongoing digital transformation of the legal industry. He also spoke about the roadmap to creating a robust arbitration framework, culture and global standards.
“One of the key obstacles is the variation in legal systems across different countries in the region. The diversity of legal traditions, ranging from common law to civil law and even Sharia law in some countries, complicates the arbitration process, particularly when it comes to enforcing arbitral awards or appointing arbitrators. To maximise the effectiveness of arbitration, legal reforms are necessary to harmonize arbitration laws with global best practices.”
– Kunal Vajani
The discussions centred on the potential of the MEASA region to become a global arbitration powerhouse by 2030 through harmonised laws, strengthened regional treaties, and technology-driven solutions.
The Evolution of Arbitration and Economic Growth
The Ld. AGI outlined three key aspects viz. (a) economic development, legal irritants and transplantations; (b) briging the gap between legal and economic development; and (c) receptivity in legal transplantations, which need attention when discussing arbitration within the MEASA region.
Emphasising on the need for parallel evolution of legal framework governing the economic transactions, the Ld. AGI remarked:
“It is not by anybody’s hegemony that global economic connection happens – it happens because of economic necessity.”
– R. Venkataramani
The Ld. AGI referred to an example from Colombia in 1953, when the commercial court system modelled entirely on Spanish laws was adopted verbatim, whereby the legal transplantation ignored the unique economic and cultural landscape.
Quoting the Arbitration Act, 1940 of India, which was embedded in an adversarial legal system, making dispute resolution lengthy and cumbersome, the Ld. AGI highlighted that the eventual shift to the UNCITRAL Model Law and the New York Convention was a significant but slow transition, emphasising that trust must be built for smoother legal integration.
“Mutual trust can be built only when the legal fraternity provides the most rational and balanced advice.”
– R. Venkataramani
Adding to the discussion on strengthening the arbitration ecosystem in the MEASA region, Toby identified (a) capacity and personnel; (b) credible arbitration institutions; and (c) judicial support for arbitral awards, as key building blocks quintessential for a robust dispute resolution ecosystem.
Stressing on the need to develop local expertise in arbitration including ensuring skill transfer and capacity building, instead of relying on foreign lawyers, Toby stated:
“It’s not about importing expensive English lawyers to tell you how to do things—it’s about developing local capacity that understands local issues.
If a government is paying an international law firm millions, why not make it a condition that local lawyers are trained in the process?”
– Toby Landau KC
Taking the discussion forward, Toby highlighted the role of credible institutions, whilst underscoring the problems with ad hoc arbitrations being long and painful, particularly in the South Asia region.
“Institutions is the way forward.”
– Toby Landau KC
Toby remarked that some progress has been made in the Middle East for building arbitration institutions, South Asia continues to have fragmented and local institutions which need to be unified with the governmental support.
Furthering on Court’ support, Toby stated that – an ecosystem cannot be built, unless there are trustworthy Courts.
“There is a problem in a country next to Nepal… where arbitration decisions fluctuate due to judicial inconsistency.”
– Toby Landau KC
India-UAE Roadblock
The discussion then drifted to a crucial issue: non-enforceability of UAE-seated arbitral awards in India.
Acknowledging the concern, the Ld. AGI stressed that recognition of arbitral awards is tied to trade volume and trust-building. The Ld. AGI reiterated that mutual trust between legal systems is a prerequisite for enforcement reciprocity.
“If trade volume with the UAE rises significantly, I am sure the Indian government will take a serious look at it.”
– R. Venkataramani
Robust Arbitration Mechanism in KSA: SCCA Vision & Strategy
As the Vice President of SCCA, Toby outlined the strategic approach of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) which has aided in building its credibility through, (a) a globally recognized arbitration framework; (b) a board comprising local and international experts; (c) adoption of UNCITRAL arbitration principles; and (d) a focus on regional needs alongside global standards.
Toby acknowledged the skepticism that some foreign parties have about the legal framework of KSA, emphasizing that the structure of SCCA is designed to counter those concerns through familiarity and trust.
Bridging the Arbitration Gap Between MEASA & South Asia
The final leg of the fireside chat focused on how to bridge the legal and arbitration gap between Middle East and South Asia to complement rising trade relations.
The Ld. AGI proposed moving beyond the common law vs. civil law debate, instead focusing on eliminating frictions between legal systems.
Toby supported the views of the Ld. AGI and emphasised on the concept of Hark al-Adha (breaking of habits), which suggests moving from inherited arbitration frameworks to creating an arbitration models tailored to regional needs.
Both the distinguished experts agreed on the need for regional working groups to enhance arbitration cooperation within the MEASA region.
The subsequent panel discussion included perspectives from Toby, Dr. Mahmood Hussain, Founding Partner of M&CO Legal; V. Bala, Deputy Head of International Disputes at Rajah & Tann Asia; Montek Mayal, Partner & Practice Head (Asia & Middle East) at Osborne Partners and Kunal.
Beginning the session, Dr. Mahmood spoke about issues with the arbitration institutions such as delay in passing an award, ballooning costs, and non-publishing of the reasoning. Dr. Mahmood also underscored the interplay between public policy and Sharia, and subsequently, the need for arbitrators who were well-versed about the region. Dr. Mahmood emphasised the pivotal role of DIFC and ADGM in positioning the UAE as a global leader in dispute resolution, highlighting their contribution to developing a robust, investor-friendly legal framework that enhances the region’s attractiveness for international arbitration.
On the issue of enforcement challenges faced by parties in the MEASA region, Toby provided some solutions such as training judges on local law, specialised benches, and specialised civil procedure codes which have particular targets for arbitration matters.
Montek emphasised on the emerging nature of disputes in the MEASA region, viz. shareholder disputes, merges and acquisitions disputes, joint venture disputes, and sector-based disputes such as fintech and crypto disputes, ESG related claims, oil and gas pricing issues, etc.
Regarding evolution of arbitration in maritime and shipping disputes in the MEASA region, Bala shed light upon the normalisation of expedited arbitration due to the paucity of time. Bala mentioned that there was a transition from the domination of the English Bar to now Hong King and Singapore become alternate centres of maritime arbitration. Bala also stated that there was a great scope of specialism in areas like shipping, in the MEASA region, due to the peculiar and technical nature of the industry.
In the discussion about the investor-state disputes, Toby talked about what solutions that governments can employ. He emphasised on capacity building, i.e., preparing for countering a claim, building institutional memory by recording learnings from previous cases, coordinating with legal personnel of different governments, having government protocols in place for countering a claim when a dispute arises, and positive vetting of government policies to ensure alignment with existing treaties.
Adding to the discussion on the problems with the current mechanism of arbitration, especially in cross-border disputes, Kunal stated that the institutions were very fragmented and for every region there should be one institute which collaborates with the others globally. Kunal also spoke about the lack of technically and culturally competent arbitrators, lack of emergency arbitration in the MEASA region and enforcement concerns. Kunal emphasised on the need for legal and political harmonisation between the government, legal functionaries, private sectors, and legal institutions across the world.
The panel further discussed navigating investment disputes, setting aside of arbitral awards, challenges in calculation of damages, next steps to identify the overall effectiveness by 2030 and the underlying global need of aiding the emergence of the MEASA region as a global arbitration powerhouse by 2030.
Concluding the insightful conversations, Saksham Agrawal, Senior Associate at Fox & Mandal, summarised the discussions in his closing remarks and delivered the vote of thanks.