First 49 Events of Riyadh International Disputes Week Calendar Reviewed

The inaugural Riyadh International Disputes Week 2024 (RIDW24) Organizing Committee has reviewed the first 49 RIDW events, that will take place from March 3 to 7, 2024, concerning commercial and investment arbitration, mediation and reconciliation, litigation, and the rule of law.

The Organizing Committee invites all those interested to take part, or to host or sponsor events to sign up online for RIDW24 activities via www.RIDW.org.

Registration is now open for the premier event of RIDW24, the third international conference of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration, SCCA24, which is slated to take place on March 6, 2024.

The Organizing Committee receives applications from parties wishing to hold events on the RIDW calendar until December 15, 2023 or the specified number of applications is reached.

RIDW24 will be an international event and a major platform for actors involved in dispute resolution to come together to explore opportunities in the industry field, exchange knowledge and expertise, and forging relationships and economic cooperation within the MENA region and beyond.

RIDW24 has already attracted the sponsorship of many prominent local and international law firms and entities, notably Diamond Sponsor AlDhabaan & Partners in association with Eversheds Sutherland, Gold Sponsors Zamakhchary (Z&Co) Law Firm, Matouk Bassiouny Law Firm, and Majed Al-Rasheed Law Firm, and Silver Sponsors Abdulaziz Alajlan & Partners in association with Baker & McKenzie Limited, ALAIDAROUS Advocates & Legal Consultants, Dentons, Obeid & Partners Law Firm, and Herbert Smith Freehills.

RIDW has also attracted thus far support from concerned international bodies, namely the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes at the World Bank (ICSID), the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI), the United Kingdom’s Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), the UK’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – Arbitration Centre (OIC-AC), AlBaraka Forum for Islamic Economics, and Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center, in addition to Saudi government and semi-government agencies, namely the Ministry of Investment, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Economic Cities and Special Zones Authority, and the Saudi Bar Association.

In the same context, the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) announced the start of early bird registration for its third international conference, SCCA24. This phase of registration will last until November 30, 2023.

SCCA24 will be the main, full-day event at RIDW 2024 and will be held on March 6, 2024, with the tagline “Dispute Resolution in a Changing World: New Trends, New Opportunities”.

SCCA24 will seek to explore the current and future prospects of dispute resolution in Saudi Arabia and the wider region through five expert panel discussions, two keynote addresses by international dignitaries with ties to the industry and seven subtopics discussed among the more than 1,200 targeted participants at the conference.

RIDW24 and its central conference are the culmination of the heights Saudi Arabia has reached in the development of its legislative and legal environment, particularly four major laws, most recent of which the Kingdom’s Civil Transactions Law. This legislation is accompanied by a major economic push in the form of mega and giga projects, the establishment of economic cities and economic zones, ever-increasing local and foreign direct investment, and the establishment of regional headquarters for international companies, all of which bound to make it an attractive and important regional destination for commercial dispute resolution issues.