Speech by Senior Minister of State for Law Mr Murali Pillai SC at the ‘Building Bridges in ADR: MENA meets Singapore’ Forum by SIDRA

27 AUG 2025

Professor Lee Pey Woan, Dean of the Singapore Management University (SMU) Yong Pung How School of Law

Professor Nadja Alexander, Director of the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy (SIDRA) at SMU

Your Excellencies, Honourable Justices, Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

  1. Good afternoon to you, or marhaba, as you say in Arabic. Really delighted to see all of you here in this room.
  1. To our guests from overseas, welcome to Singapore, and to the Singapore Convention Week (SC Week). I hope you have had an enriching experience so far.
  1. Let me begin by thanking everyone here for joining us. Today’s Forum is our first ever MENA-centred event at SC Week! We are especially happy to have it in this year, because we mark the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence. I would also like to make special mention of Dr Emad Hussein from SIDRA – thank you very much for planting the seed that led to this forum, and also for your kind and warm words.

Singapore’s Ties with MENA

  1. I am heartened to see that we have friends from across MENA here with us today. And I thought it will be worth noting that Singapore and MENA have had longstanding connections, which in fact go well beyond 1965, Singapore’s year of independence.
  1. In fact since the 1800s, Singapore had a thriving community that traces its ancestry to the Hadhramaut valley. Singapore was a critical node in the Hadhrami’s trading network in Southeast Asia. However, they did not just use Singapore as a stop in their business activities. They were also well known for their philanthropy, and had donated land for many landmarks, such as St. Andrew’s Cathedral and Singapore’s first mosque, Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka.
  1. Today, there are still many places and landmarks in Singapore with Arab roots. One of Singapore’s oldest mosques, Masjid Sultan, is located along Muscat Street. Singaporeans are familiar with names such as Aljunied, Alkaff and Alsagoff, and many are able to identify streets, buildings, mosques, and schools named after these figures.
  1. In more recent times, our links with the Middle East region remain strong. On people-to-people ties, many of our students continue their education at various colleges and universities in the Middle East, such as Al-Azhar University in Egypt, the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, Yarmouk University and University of Jordan.
  1. On the economic front, Singapore was the first country outside the Middle East to conclude a Free Trade Agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, which entered into force in September 2013.
  1. Earlier this year, we set up the Saudi-Singapore Strategic Partnership Council. This is Saudi Arabia’s first such partnership with a country from Southeast Asia.
  1. In the legal space, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Arbitration Centre, and with the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA), to strengthen cooperation in arbitration and dispute resolution.
  1. As I am also the Senior Minister of State at the Ministry of Transport, I am especially pleased to see our Singapore company, PSA International, providing services in various parts of MENA. This includes constructing and operating ports in Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast, including in Dammam, providing supply chain and logistics services in Oman, Qatar, UAE, Egypt and Morocco; and marine services in Oman.
  1. Today’s Forum is therefore yet another manifestation of these longstanding ties. For my speech, I will cover three broad areas:

a. First, current common challenges faced by MENA and Singapore,

b. Next, similarities between MENA and Singapore, and

c. Finally, opportunities for MENA and Singapore to collaborate in the dispute resolution space.

Current common challenges faced by MENA and Singapore

  1. On the first topic, on the current economic climate, MENA and Singapore are, as with many other countries, not immune to the economic disruptions that have emerged.
  1. In recent years, we have been impacted by the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs, the Russia-Ukraine war, and various other barriers to globalisation including the growing trend of friend-shoring or re-shoring, just to name a few. These have raised concerns over the stability and security of our supply chains, and the flow of goods, services and people.
  1. We also need to grapple with the challenges of working with new industries, standards, and technologies such as Environmental, Social, and Governance tracking (ESG), cryptocurrency, and of course, Artificial Intelligence (AI). These are developments which are still constantly evolving, and we probably do not have a full picture emerging just yet.
  1. The world economy is now less stable and volatile. This has implications for the Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) sector.
  1. New industries may also require a differentiated approach towards disputes. For example, tech companies developing AI algorithms, models or products may prefer to resolve disputes confidentially and avoid their sensitive technologies from being divulged in a court litigation. Another example could be cases of ‘greenwashing’, which are also more likely to rise with stricter ESG requirements, and which may also result in more disputes.
  1. At the same time, the ADR sector itself is also transforming. Mediation is now becoming more prevalent as an ADR option, to complement arbitration and international commercial courts. Some users prefer mediation as it allows them to resolve a dispute through collaborative approaches that better preserve business relations.
  1. Singapore has played an early role in shaping the international mediation landscape, through the Singapore Convention on Mediation which was signed in August 2019.
  1. The Convention strengthens cross-border enforcement of mediated settlement agreements. Under the Convention, businesses with a mediated settlement agreement that needs to be enforced across borders can do so directly by applying to the courts of the countries that have ratified the treaty, instead of having to separately enforce the settlement agreement as a contract in accordance with each country’s domestic processes.
  1. This harmonised framework saves significant time and costs. It also addresses a major concern over the enforceability of mediation settlements, which previously discouraged businesses from pursuing mediation.
  1. Today, we have 19 parties to the Convention, from all over the world. Many more countries remain interested in ratifying the Convention. With more jurisdictions becoming parties, this will provide a more comprehensive slate of ADR options, and assurance, for businesses, thereby strengthening the flow of trade and commerce.

Similarities between ASEAN and MENA

  1. This brings me to my second point, on the similarities between MENA and Singapore.
  1. MENA and Singapore play similar roles in the global economy, as key hubs in the flow of goods, services and people. For example, Singapore’s port serves as a key stopover point in global supply chains, while multiple airports in MENA have also become key nodes for air travel.
  1. MENA and Southeast Asia, which Singapore is part of, are also both regions with strong economic potential.
  1. Several countries in MENA are pursuing ambitious growth plans, such as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Qatar National Vision 2030, and UAE’s ‘We the UAE 2031’ Strategy. In the first quarter of 2025, MENA attracted US$17.6 billion in FDI.

a. In the first half of 2025, startup funding in the MENA region reached $2.1 billion, for a range of new and still expanding sectors including Fintech, Web 3, Education Technology and Food Technology.

b. MENA sovereign wealth funds now represent about 40% of global sovereign wealth fund assets under management. These funds are used to diversify MENA economies beyond oil dependency, and invest in sectors such as green energy, agri-tech, and digital infrastructure. These are also priorities that Singapore shares.

  1. ASEAN countries are likewise undergoing a period of strong growth and economic development. As a whole, ASEAN is the fifth largest economy in the world. ASEAN is also a dynamic region, with about a third of its population made up of youth.
  1. Therefore, Singapore and MENA face similar circumstances, as economies looking to attract foreign investments, explore expansion opportunities abroad, and strengthen our status as gateways to wider and different regions. Our target markets are different, but these similarities mean that we are well-placed to work with each other, and learn from one another.

Singapore’s Commitment

  1. Let me now elaborate on Singapore’s approach to economic development. As we observe some countries turning inwards, Singapore remains committed to being open and collaborative. This is because we strongly believe that we will all benefit in this way. We only need to remember what happened in the 1930s, when countries turned inwards and imposed retaliatory tariffs on each other and exacerbated the Great Depression.
  1. Therefore, our approach has been:

a. To be a partner to all – we choose to take positions based on principles rather than to take sides.

b. Share our experiences with others and learn from them.

c. And finally, welcome global talent who can contribute to Singapore.

  1. Consistent with this approach, we have established Singapore Convention Week as a key platform for thought leaders, practitioners and businesses from around the world, to share experiences and to make connections, as we see today at this Forum.
  1. During Singapore Convention Week, we also have dispute resolution institutions from around the world, from Europe, Asia and many other regions organising partner events, and we are happy for them to do so. This year, the Bahrain International Commercial Court has travelled here to organise a partner event as part of this week, and we are honoured that they have chosen to use Singapore Convention Week to connect with potential users and the rest of the legal community.
  1. I am heartened to see that we have representatives from highly regarded firms and dispute resolution institutions from MENA here at today’s Forum.
  1. Likewise, our own dispute resolution institutions and lawyers regularly attend similar large legal events in MENA. We are grateful for the warm welcome and hospitality each time.
  1. In terms of openness to global talent, we now have foreign law firms and lawyers thriving here. In our dispute resolution sector, leading experts from all over the world sit on the Boards or panels of our dispute resolution institutions, including the SIAC, Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) and Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC).
  1. The presence of leading international firms and practitioners in Singapore enriches our ecosystem. It not only provides more options for businesses but also spurs our local firms and institutions to do better.

Opportunities to collaborate in the dispute resolution space

  1. This brings me to my final point, which is that the dispute resolution pie is not a zero-sum game. By collaborating with one another, we can grow the pie and increase opportunities for all. We have already seen this in other sectors. For example, Singaporean companies such as Surbana Jurong (SJ) and PSA have partnered with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund on multiple infrastructure projects that have helped strengthened the ability of ports and air hubs to handle increased flows of goods, services and people. In Singapore, we do not just look for immediate gain in our overseas ventures, but instead actively think about how we can value-add and facilitate further trade and investment through our involvement.
  1. I earlier described how both MENA and ASEAN are fertile grounds for investment. The ADR sector plays a key role in facilitating trade flows between and through these regions, allowing businesses to tap on the vast economic potential.
  1. Singapore practitioners can advise and provide assurance to MENA businesses looking to expand into Singapore and ASEAN or even Asia. Likewise, Singaporean businesses will need trusted legal advisors from MENA to guide their efforts when they invest in the region.
  1. Besides the availability of legal services, strong, international ADR institutions also help to attract foreign investments by providing assurances to the businesses that when a dispute arises, there will be independent and neutral forums to decide the dispute.
  1. Businesses will naturally prefer to use institutions in their home countries. But this may not always be possible if they are collaborating with foreign businesses who have their own preferences. In such situations, the availability of a third-party, neutral forum becomes useful, or even critical. SIAC, for example, has played that role for a while now. Its users come from all over the world – the US, China, India, Europe, the Middle East, and of course Southeast Asia, to name a few. And we hope that the SIAC can continue to support the growth of businesses in these places, as they transact and engage with other foreign businesses.
  1. In the same way, we recognise that businesses that operate in, through, and out of Singapore will also benefit if there is a wider range of options available to them.
  1. That is why we welcome leading foreign institutions to set up a presence in Singapore. Back in 1991 when SIAC was first established, we approached foreign institutions to set up in Singapore as well. But unfortunately, none of them were interested at that point in time. It took years of hard work and a strong commitment on our part, to develop the legal and dispute resolution sector in Singapore, to what it is today.
  1. Today, we are very fortunate to have institutions, such as the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Court of Arbitration, American Arbitration Association’s International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR), Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO AMC), based in Singapore. Earlier this week, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) announced that it will set up an office in Singapore.
  1. All these have led to a much richer ecosystem that brings together the best legal services and expertise and which delivers value to all parties – be it Singapore or foreign businesses, or the local or international ADR institutions.

Conclusion

  1. I would like to end by saying a few words about SIDRA.
  1. As I discussed earlier in my speech, our operating context is growing ever more complex, and more unpredictable. Countries and institutions will have to be nimble and adapt to new developments.
  1. Academia thus has an important role to play, particularly in helping us learn the key trends and user preferences, deep-diving into emerging sectors and opportunities, and informing policy making and our ADR offerings accordingly.
  1. SIDRA’s research, as well as its biennial International Dispute Resolution Survey, already seeks to do this and has made important contributions. I am confident that today’s Forum will be another important platform for the ADR sector to deepen our understanding of key issues and markets.
  1. I would like to congratulate SIDRA on launching today’s Forum, and I wish everyone an insightful Forum.
  1. Thank you.

Last updated on 27 August 2025