“Empowering Champions to Lead”
International Commercial Arbitration is an important and critical area of law that is growing in the Middle East. Parties entering in international commerce often require or prefer disputes be settled through arbitration. This requires a specific cadre of experts able to engage in arbitration with international parties, understanding the various international principles, cultures, and laws. As the Middle East strives to increase and attract international commerce to their respective countries, many governments from the region, are working towards improving the mechanisms for resolving disputes through international arbitration. In support of this initiative, legal education on international commerce has become a focal point for governments, academia, and the private sector.
The Middle East Pre-Moot is one year away from its 10th Anniversary. It is important that we highlight the significant amount of progress the program has made in the region, along with the impact it has had on international reflections on legal capacity in the Middle East and North Africa. By this year, the Vis Pre-Moot will have graduated over 350 law students and engaged with over 200 lawyers and arbitration practitioners.
At the end of the program, where will those students and lawyers be? Will they yield productive professional and personal networks? And more importantly, will they pay it forward and ensure that the efforts of years past do not vanish to mere memories?
The answer to this question rests with you and brings us to this year’s theme “Empowering Champions to Lead”. Thanks to the support of the individuals and institutions that have committed their time and effort to sustain this program, we have empowered champions of international commercial arbitration in a majority of the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. It is time for our champions to “take charge” and pay it forward, by working to institutionalize the Middle East Vis Pre-Moot and sustain country representation on the world stage.