Qatar seen as leading arbitration hub, says QICCA official

QICCA board member for International Relations Sheikh Dr Thani bin Ali al-Thani and QICCA general counsel Dr Minas Khatchadourian

Following a series of milestones amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Qatar is poised to become a leading arbitration hub, according to an official of Qatar International Centre for Conciliation and Arbitration (QICCA). Sheikh Dr Thani bin Ali al-Thani, QICCA board member for International Relations, said that aside from an Arbitration Law, Qatar has world-class infrastructure and facilities, and legal entities and other institutions that are capable of providing the necessary legal services needed by different sectors. Speaking to Gulf Times, Sheikh Thani noted that last year QICCA had actively participated in different programmes at the height of the pandemic, and maximised the use of technology in order to adapt to the changes, as well as with the challenges related to the pandemic. In 2020, Sheikh Thani said, QICCA settled commercial disputes worth QR425mn, and received as many as 27 requests for arbitration, as well as two requests for conciliation cases, on contracts related to the construction, commercial agency, insurance, communications, engineering, real estate brokerage, sales and supply, and financing sectors.