• The National and International Arbitration Congress organized by the Arbitration and Conciliation Center of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce will be held from October 5 to 7 in the city of Santa Marta.

• National and international experts will discuss procedural, substantive and business topics that seek to optimize arbitration practices in sectors such as energy, hydrocarbons and infrastructure.

• The Center continues its commitment to ratify its position as the leader in the attention and resolution of conflicts for all businessmen and investors in the Americas.

Bogota, October 2022. Dispute Resolution Mechanisms have positioned themselves in Colombia and the region thanks to the fact that they have offered effective and real solutions to the legal disputes of businessmen, citizens and investors. This positioning has been leveraged by a scenario of institutional trust, legal security and professionalism in decision making that has been led by the Arbitration and Conciliation Center of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce for almost forty years.

The Center is also a benchmark in the promotion of dialogue, reflection and the design of the academic agenda on Dispute Resolution Mechanisms. The National Arbitration Congress: a Center for the Americas, has been the epicenter for legal experts, highly specialized professionals and businessmen to meet to discuss and reflect on the state and future of arbitration in Colombia and the world.

This year the fifth version of this congress will be held in the city of Santa Marta on October 5, 6 and 7.

After two years marked by the pandemic, economic uncertainty and the challenges of technology, the arbitration community has gathered to meet again and share experiences, views and lessons on trends (procedural and substantive) when making arbitral decisions. It will also be the time to promote the best service practices, since it cannot be denied that, in general, Dispute Resolution Mechanisms are attracting more and more attention and trust from businessmen and investors from all latitudes. The construction sector - one of the sectors that maintains the economic stability of the country - appears as a frequent user that has placed its trust in the services of the CCB's Arbitration and Conciliation Center. The reasons for its choice lie, surely, in the advantages offered by the Mechanisms, such as specialty and efficiency in decision making. By August 2022, for example, the number of arbitration decisions issued doubled compared to 2021. The behavior in conciliation is similar; to date, 2,906 requests have been filed.

The congress agenda is multi-thematic, with businessmen, academics and operators in mind. Those who attend will find unmissable panels such as "International Road Infrastructure Controversies: Comparative Solutions in the Americas", to be held on Wednesday, October 5. This space will be moderated by Francisco Jijón, Partner at White & Case (Washington), and Myriam Seers de Savoie Laporte (Toronto), Patrick Barrera Sweeney, Partner at BACLAW (Quito) and Gisela París, counsel at Foley Hoag (Washington) will speak.

Another of the panels is "Voices of the Dispute Resolution Mechanisms: reflection on the compromissory clauses in infrastructure contracts", moderated by María Angélica Munar of the Arbitration and Conciliation Center of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá, with the participation of Jimmy García Urdaneta, Legal Defense Manager of the National Infrastructure Agency ANI (Bogotá D. C.); Alejandro Gutiérrez Ramírez, Legal Defense Manager of Metro de Bogotá (Bogotá D. C.) and Juan Carlos Quiñones Guzmán, Legal Vice-President of the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure (Bogotá D.C.).

Invited experts

In addition to the conversation on the construction sector and dispute resolution mechanisms, the Congress agenda brings experts in national and international arbitration. Among them are Margarita Echeverria, Arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), former General Secretary of the Costa Rican Football Federation and Member of the FIFA Ethics Committee; Eduardo Silva-Romero, Co-leader of the International Arbitration team of Dechert LLP and former Deputy Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration; Enrique Gomez Pinzón, partner at Holland and Knight and expert in cross-border financing and investment, mergers and acquisitions, international arbitration and Andrea Hulbert, founding partner of Hulbert Volio Montero and professor of international law and expert in dispute resolution mechanisms.

The complete agenda of the congress is available at https://www.centroarbitrajeconciliacion.com/