16.02.2024 İstanbul
The 18th ICC Türkiye Arbitration Day Conference was held in İstanbul in cooperation with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Türkiye National Committee and the ICC International Court of Arbitration.
Speaking at the opening
of the conference, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the ICC
is the largest business organization working to increase trade and investments
in the world and said, “It was founded by a group of entrepreneurs with the
slogan “merchants of peace” in order to eliminate the damage caused by the
First World War to international trade. For 105 years, it has been at the
forefront of promoting peace and prosperity around the world. It has come to
represent more than 45 million companies and more than 1 billion employees in
more than 170 countries.”
Explaining that since
its establishment, the ICC has signed many different formations for the
development of global trade, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “It has pioneered
international commercial arbitration and has become a reference institution for
the reduction of customs barriers and the removal of barriers to trade.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu reminded
that the Turkish National Committee of the ICC was established in 1934 and
operates under TOBB’s umbrella, and said that the Turkish National Committee,
as a strong and well-established National Committee, has been offering ICC
activities to the Turkish Business World for many years.
Noting that the ICC
also plays an important role in supporting global trade and investment through
dispute resolution, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The ICC International Court of
Arbitration is one of the world's leading centers for the resolution of
international commercial disputes. Consisting of members from more than 90
countries on every continent, the Court is the most widely represented
arbitration organization. It is particularly important that every region of the
world is represented on the Court and in its Secretariat. The flexibility of
ICC arbitration, the availability of translations of its rules in many
languages, its constant self-renewal and adaptation to contemporary
developments are other important factors underlying the Court's success.”
Stating that ICC
Arbitration is recognized as an effective tool for the fair, impartial and
rapid resolution of disputes arising between international businesses, the TOBB
President said, “Both in the world and in our country, the interest and demand
of business people for arbitration increases day by day. This is because we
want to be secure while establishing our domestic and inter-country business
connections. One of the most important elements of the investment environment
is the guarantee of contractual obligations. Especially for international
investors, the existence of an effective arbitration institution is a must.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
emphasized that before Türkiye integrated into the arbitration system, global
direct investment inflows did not exceed 1 billion dollars a year, and with the
effect of the acceptance of arbitration, this figure has increased to over 10
billion dollars a year, and Türkiye has become more attractive and preferable
in terms of attracting investments at the point of becoming a global investment
and production base.
For this reason,
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that as the business world, they see arbitration as a
very valuable infrastructure and trust mechanism for investment and trade: “The
ICC's International Arbitration System is an important guarantee in this
respect. In addition, by taking into account the needs and priorities of the
business world, it produces mechanisms that work faster and can be used to
resolve smaller commercial disputes. The ICC Expedited Procedure Provisions
(EPP) is designed to serve this purpose. As a faster and more economical
solution, it has been a suitable mechanism for SMEs and start-ups. Since its
inception, more than 28,000 cases have been heard in ICC arbitration. In 2023,
890 new cases were registered. In addition, our country has been designated as
a seat of arbitration 10 times. On the occasion of this Arbitration Conference,
I would like to share an expectation from the ICC. As a good client of ICC
arbitration, we expect and want the ICC to give more space to the jurists of
our country in the appointment of arbitrators. As TOBB and ICC Türkiye, we will
continue to work to make arbitration known and widespread.”
- “Türkiye has an important role in attracting
international companies”
Claudia Salomon,
President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, stated that the world
continues to evolve.
Stating that many
arbitration members were from Europe when the ICC was first established,
Salomon said, “The disputes also reflected the characteristics of that period.
The main commodities were actually arbitration members were not lawyers, they
were business people. Business people did not want lawyers. They thought that
we cannot resolve disputes in this way.”
Now the ICC is global
and in every respect really reflects the needs of the business and the company
globally, Salomon said, explaining that Türkiye has an important role in the
global economy in attracting international companies to Türkiye.
Salomon noted the
following: “We clearly see that Türkiye's business world interacts with the
global business world. Türkiye is well represented at the International Court
of Arbitration. Türkiye's companies trust the ICC for dispute resolution.
Because ICC is really the only international arbitration institution. The ICC
is impartial, independent and its service quality is very good. Agreements also
lead to disputes. Businesses should be prepared. Risk management strategies
should take into account any disputes that may arise. Companies understand
this. If companies are proactive and think about disputes from the onset, then
they position themselves in the best possible way.”