ICC Colombia Arbitration Week 2026 brought together more than 1,000 participants from 58 countries

During the week, the FIDIC Academy, the ICC YAAF, the IV ICC Colombia Arbitration Day and the Conference ICC-FIDIC 2026 addressed the challenges of international contracts, the infrastructure and early dispute management.

Bogotá, October 2026. More than 1,000 participants from 58 countries met in Bogotá during the ICC Colombia Arbitration Week 2026, an agenda that connected businessmen, engineers, lawyers, arbitrators and international experts around a common challenge: how to prevent disputes, protect investments and provide greater security to contracts in a increasingly complex business environment.

With this call, the Week registered a record number of participation between events held jointly by the ICC and FIDIC, and ratified Colombia's ability to convene the business community and international legal. The presence of representatives from 58 countries reflects the interest in generating spaces for the exchange of knowledge and strengthening commercial links between markets.

“Trust is the most valuable asset of a country, and it is built with contracts that work and with disputes that are resolved in time. This week, more than 1,000 participants from 58 countries confirmed that Bogotá can be the place where that happens for the entire region. Behind every project there is SMEs, suppliers and jobs that depend on it. Therefore, in this new stage of the Chamber, we are going to promote a culture of prevention, consolidate Bogotá as a regional arbitration center and train the capabilities that the country needs,” said Juan Esteban Orrego Calle, executive president of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá and president of ICC Colombia.

Construction and energy, in the center of the conversation

The figures reflect the importance of this discussion for sectors strategic of the economy. According to ICC data, construction cases before the International Court of Arbitration they went from 193 in 2024 to 246 in 2025. Furthermore, construction and energy together represented 43% of the new arbitrations.

In Latin America, where important needs for infrastructure and the energy transition advances, the projects involve more and more actors, international financing and chains of contractors different countries. In this scenario, anticipate contractual risks and count with effective mechanisms to manage disagreements can make a difference between a controlled difficulty and a large-scale controversy.

The president of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, Claudia Salomon, The week in Bogotá was highlighted as exceptional “From the 4th Arbitration Day of ICC Colombia, meetings with legal advisors of companies, members of the Colombian judicial branch, the ICC Colombia Arbitration Commission, the ICC YAAF and ICC Academy initiatives to the ICC-FIDIC Conference on International Construction Contracts and Dispute Resolution manifest the strength and dynamism of the arbitration community and dispute resolution in Colombia. A remarkable example of what they can achieve solid institutional alliances in the field of conflict resolution controversies, both in Colombia and throughout Latin America.”

Prevent, as well as resolve

Precisely, one of the central messages of Arbitration Week was that dispute management should not begin when the conflict is already is installed. Contractual planning, early identification of risks and mechanisms such as Dispute Prevention and Resolution Boards (DAAB), which allow differences to be addressed during the execution of projects, can help prevent disagreements from escalating and affecting results.

“From the ICC perspective, the most successful projects are not those who completely avoid disagreements, but those who have solid mechanisms to manage them before they escalate. In the big ones infrastructure projects, preventing disputes is often more valuable than winning them,” stated Patricia Ferraz, regional director of Arbitration and ADR. for Latin America of the ICC.

When arbitration becomes inevitable, companies now have more agile tools. During the ICC-FIDIC Conference the application to construction litigation of the ICC Arbitration Rules revised, effective June 1, 2026, which incorporates the determination early warning of manifestly unfounded claims, broadens the scope of abbreviated procedures and establishes electronic communications as general rule.

The agenda, organized by the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce – ICC Colombia in alliance with the ICC and FIDIC, included the FIDIC Academy, held in the headquarters of the CCB as a space for specialized training in FIDIC contracts; the ICC YAAF; the IV ICC Colombia Arbitration Day, and the ICC-FIDIC 2026 Conference, spaces that addressed arbitration trends, the challenges of contracts international organizations and tools to improve project management infrastructure.

For Alberto Zuleta, president of the ICC Arbitration and ADR Commission Colombia, bringing these practices closer to the Colombian business environment is fundamental to strengthening confidence in contracts and facilitating participation of companies in global markets.

“Promote knowledge of international mechanisms of prevention and resolution of disputes contributes to companies being better prepared to manage their risks, protect their interests and build lasting business relationships,” said Zuleta.

Bogotá, regional platform for dispute resolution

The Week also highlighted the offer of Bogotá as the headquarters of international arbitrations. The Arbitration and Conciliation Center of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogotá and the network of hearing centers that connects the city with São Paulo and Paris offer the parties and the arbitral tribunals a infrastructure to advance its processes with international standards.

The balance of the ICC Colombia 2026 Refereeing Week leaves a message for the business sector: anticipating controversies is not just a task legal, but a strategic decision to protect investments, give continuity to projects and generate confidence in national and international. With this purpose, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce will continue promoting, together with the infrastructure unions and entities public, a permanent agenda of training and prevention of controversies aimed at engineers, lawyers, arbitrators and contract managers.