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Hong Kong CE encourages tech development

Image Credits: HKSAR Government, Press Release

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive recently gave a speech at the International Dispute Resolution Conference 2019 where she noted that Hong Kong is well-known for being a leading international dispute resolution centre in the Asia Pacific.

The theme of the conference is New Era of Global Collaboration – a timely theme, for the global community, is in need of further collaboration more than ever to tackle the daunting challenges faced by the world.

Uneven growth, diverging trade policies, financial instability and trade and investment disputes are rife worldwide. An increase in international trade and investment disputes seems to be inevitable given the growth in cross-border economic activities and transactions, especially in Asia.

Buoyed by domestic demand, Asia’s GDP is expected to grow 6.1% a year on average between now and 2023. Hong Kong is taking full advantage of that growth.

Hong Kong, as a founding member of the World Trade Organization and a staunch supporter of free trade, would unequivocally welcome trade growth. The key will be effectively managing and settling the increasing number of disputes that come with it. In this regard, conventional litigation alone will not prove sufficient.

Arbitration, given its established international conventions, rules and norms, has long been used to settle international disputes. And mediation is gradually sharing arbitration’s spotlight in international dispute resolution. Mediation’s attractions are many. It works to achieve an amicable resolution, given that settlements must be reached voluntarily. And that, of course, is conducive to maintaining business relationships among the parties involved.

That said, the lack of an effective method for enforcing mediated agreements has been an impediment to its international development.

In that regard, the CE noted that 2018 saw the approval of the Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation and its subsequent adoption by the United Nations General Assembly.

The mediation convention, with its enhanced enforceability, is expected to boost mediation, particularly investment mediation, as a global means of dispute resolution.

HK dedicated to mediation

Hong Kong is actively preparing for that reality, providing dedicated training for investment mediators. The first Investment Law & Investor-State Mediator Training in Asia took place here last October. More than 50 dispute resolution practitioners and government officials from Asia and beyond took part.

The Hong Kong economic system is no less attractive. It maintains a free-market economy, offering a simple and low tax regime and a level playing field for companies. The Heritage Foundation has named Hong Kong the world’s freest economy for the past 25 years in a row. Another institute has also consistently ranked the region the first in economic freedom.

I&T a priority

While Hong Kong is building on its traditional strengths, and it is also developing new ones. In particular, innovation and technology are a policy priority of the HKSAR Government; Hong Kong is catching up quickly on that front.

The region is encouraging the application of technology in almost every aspect of its economy and society, including justice for cross-border disputes.

A representative from the HKSAR Department of Justice is chairing a Working Group in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which has developed a framework for the online resolution of cross-border, business-to-business disputes. It will cut costs and overcome the geographical distance between the parties involved. It will also promote the use of dispute-resolution services internationally.

To support APEC’s work, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) here are creating an electronic Business Related Arbitration & Mediation system, or eBRAM in short.

eBRAM is being developed as a secure and cost-effective deal-making and dispute-resolution online service for cross-border commercial and trade disputes, including those relating to projects under the Belt & Road Initiative. The HKSAR Government is providing close to US$20 million to support eBRAM’s development and initial operation.

It is hoped that eBRAM will facilitate business operations and achieve better access to justice by providing easily accessible and affordable dispute resolution services.

In addition, the HKSAR Government is working to demonstrate Hong Kong’s unique competitiveness under the “one country, two systems” principle in addressing the service need of various jurisdictions with different legal traditions.

Hong Kong is determined, and the Government is committed, to Hong Kong’s continuing rise as a centre for international legal and dispute-resolution services.

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Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

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SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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