Welcome Address by Minister Edwin Tong SC at UNCITRAL Academy Conference - Timeless Principles, Timely Solutions. Nurturing Trust in a Changing World
25 August 2026 Posted in Speeches
Ms Anna Joubin-Bret, Secretary of UNCITRAL Excellencies Judges Distinguished guests Ladies and gentlemen
Introduction
1. Good morning to all of you.
2. It is a real pleasure to welcome you once again to Singapore for the Singapore Convention Week, and of course, the UNCITRAL Academy Conference.
3. This year, the Singapore Convention Week brings together over 70 partner events, and we have participants from close to 100 different jurisdictions.
4. What began as a modest effort to bring the international dispute resolution community together around the Singapore Convention on Mediation has grown into one of the world’s leading dispute resolution weeks.
5. This really would not have been possible without all of your support.
6. So, to UNCITRAL, our partner organisations, the many speakers who spent so much time preparing, our delegates for attending – thank you very much for your continued partnership and for making the Singapore Convention Week what it is today.
UNCITRAL60 and SGLaw200
7. This year, as you heard from Anna earlier, is a particularly meaningful one. UNCITRAL celebrates its 60th anniversary. And in Singapore, we are commemorating SGLaw200 – 200 years since the Second Charter of Justice laid the foundations of our modern legal system.
8. Of course, over the years we have nuanced it, contextualised it, and changed it for our own purposes, but the foundations and bedrock of the system was found in the Second Charter of Justice 200 years ago.
9. At first glance, these may seem like two very different milestones. One celebrates the development of international commercial law. The other marks the evolution of Singapore’s legal system.
10. But I believe that, like Anna, these two celebratory moments are connected by one common idea – and that is the trust that we have in the rule of law. Trust that contracts will be honoured. Trust that when there is a dispute, it will be resolved fairly, efficiently and predictably. Trust that outcomes will depend on the law, and not on the relative size, wealth, power, might or political influence of the parties.
11. That is why we chose this year’s theme – “Timeless Principles, Timely Solutions: Nurturing Trust in a Changing World”. I think we can resonate with almost every part of that sentence. The rule of law itself is a timeless principle. It does not bend with the times, and that consistency is precisely what makes trust possible. And when businesses have trust in the rules that govern their operations and in the institutions that resolve their disputes, they will be more willing to invest, trade, and enter into long-term relationships across borders. Singapore has been fortunate to have been built on precisely that foundation.
Importance of Rules-Based Order
12. In fact, the importance of a rules-based order was one of the defining lessons of the Second World War. The architects of the post-WW2 order understood that goodwill alone was not enough. Hence, many in the post-WW2 era built institutions, such as the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, the Bretton Woods institutions, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which later became the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and of course, UNCITRAL.
13. All of these institutions, and the philosophy behind building and investing in them was united by a common belief that countries, large and small, should be governed by common rules, rather than power, and that disputes that will occasionally arise should be resolved in accordance with the rule of law.
14. UNCITRAL has played a very important part in this effort. The UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, first adopted in 1985 and revised in 2006, has now been adopted by over 85 jurisdictions. The New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, which UNCITRAL has long championed, today has 172 signatories.
15. The rules-based order has been one of the key drivers of the unprecedented growth that we have seen in global trade and investment over the past decades since WW2. Since 1950, the volume of world trade has increased by around 45 times, while the value of world trade has increased by almost 410 times in this period alone.
A Changing World
16. But as the title of today’s conference says, we are facing a changing world. That is almost a given in almost every conference that we have, and almost every dialogue that we do. The navigation of the changing world has become key preoccupation. The environment in which this system that we know it to be – underpinned by trust and the institutions – will change, if not already changed significantly.
17. At the WTO Ministerial Conference in March this year, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala put it starkly. She said, “The world order and multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed.” Her point was not that multilateralism no longer matters. In fact, quite the opposite. She argued that we need to identify what worked in the old order and preserve it, repair what did not, and fill the gaps in the system that are now emerging.
18. Businesses share the same concern. The Conference Board’s 2026 survey found that one-third of US CEOs identified the potential erosion of the rule of law as a factor that could negatively affect their businesses.
19. We can see why. Businesses can adapt to changes in rules and they often do, but uncertainty, unpredictability and arbitrariness are much harder to navigate.
20. So the question is not whether we still need international rules and institutions. I believe we do. But how we come together to ensure that we continue to command trust in a very different world.
Need to Renew Trust
21. Even the most established institutions today are feeling the strain. Take the WTO as one example.
22. For decades, the WTO’s dispute settlement system was regarded as the gold standard for state-to-state dispute resolution. In fact, former Director-General Roberto Azevêdo said the “crown jewel” of the multilateral trading system was founded in the WTO.
23. Since its establishment in 1995 till 31 December 2025, more than 640 disputes have been brought to the WTO - demonstrating that countries are still prepared to submit disputes to independent adjudication, instead of relying on political or economic leverage.
24. Yet since 2017, coming to 10 years now, appointments to the Appellate Body have been blocked.
25. By the end of 2019, there were no longer enough members waiting to hear appeals. That is a sad situation for an institution like the WTO, to be unable, because of political machinations, to hear appeals.
26. As at the end of 2025, more than 30 appeals remained pending, and members have had to explore interim solutions, whilst waiting for an outcome.
27. Around the world, we also see debates over investor-State dispute settlements – questions about compliance with decisions of international tribunals, and calls to reform international institutions so that they can remain fit for purpose.
28. As a small state in Singapore, whose prosperity depends on a stable, rules-based international order, we have every interest in ensuring that this global system, that has seen a rise in trade, and has seen openness, cooperation, globalisation, will continue to survive, to work, to serve us. We need for it to command confidence and trust, and it needs to be evolved to remain fit for purpose. Because the alternative is untenable. The alternative is a scenario where size and power make right, and that is completely untenable for a country like Singapore. Because if you measure it by size and might, then in almost every situation, we will lose.
29. That is why Singapore has long sought, not just to benefit from this strong multilateral system, but to actively contribute to it and to play our part on a world stage. We were a founding member of ASEAN in 1967 – just two years after our independence. We joined the GATT in 1973, and became a member of WTO when it was established in 1995. We also participated actively in various international institutions, to develop and to work towards upholding common rules and common standards. And we have tried to ensure that small countries continue to have a voice, and we helped to establish the Forum of Small States, which today brings together more than 100 countries.
30. We are privileged that Singaporeans have been able to contribute to international organisations as well as serve in negotiations across different fields, including the law of the sea, dispute resolution, as well as intellectual property.
31. We may be a small country, but we believe that we can, and we will when we can, be a constructive and consistent partner to the world.
32. We often say at many of these occasions that the world order is breaking down; trust in the system is eroding; countries are pulling away from multilateralism; there is friendshoring and reshoring; people ignoring the rules-based system. But I think we need to ask ourselves that second question as well. If this is happening, what are we doing wrong? What can we, as a collective, come together to do to ensure that, globalization and openness, productivity and growth can remain a common piece of our multilateral system.
Singapore’s Bid to Host the Multilateral Investment Tribunal
33. It is in that spirit that I am very pleased to be making two announcements today. Both, I believe, will strengthen the value proposition behind a rules-based multilateral international dispute resolution system.
34. First, Singapore will be putting forward its bid to host the Multilateral Investment Tribunal (MIT), currently being negotiated by UNCITRAL Member States.
35. Let me articulate Singapore’s interest in this effort.
36. We believe, as you heard me say earlier, that the need for a trusted investment dispute settlement system really has never been more acute. More than half of all known treaty-based investor-State cases since 1987 have been initiated in the last decade. So the rise in the last decade has been strong. Yet the framework meant to resolve these very disputes has itself come under serious strain – marked by inconsistent decisions, concerns about regulatory interference and chill, and persistent questions about arbitrator independence and impartiality. The legitimacy of this system is being strained at precisely the moment it is needed the most. And that is what has driven UNCITRAL Working Group III’s reform efforts that they have been undertaking since 2017.
37. The urgency is compounded by the fact that States today are intervening and regulating more actively than ever – in areas such as public health, energy security, climate change and national security. This is understandable. As States become more invested and more interested in these areas, there will be more activism and more intervention. As that happens, disputes will follow. So the question, to me is not whether investment disputes will arise, but whether there is a credible, trusted institution to resolve them when they arise.
38. In this regard, a well-designed MIT can provide precisely that. It can promote greater coherence, predictability and legitimacy, whilst preserving flexibility that States with differing preferences will need – How they see their preferences, what they might want to do, how they want to organise the dispute resolution framework domestically to coexist with the MIT.
39. We believe that Singapore is well-placed to support this endeavour. We offer a neutral and stable jurisdiction, firmly grounded in the rule of law. We have built a mature dispute resolution ecosystem, spanning arbitration, mediation as well as adjudication, supported by a strong legal services sector with extensive international expertise. Just as importantly, Singapore is well positioned and connected to the constituencies that this Tribunal will serve. Singapore sits at the heart of Asia, and has steadily deepened links with the developed as well as developing world, through our extensive network of trade and investment agreements, growing economic partnerships, as well as expanding diplomatic presence. We can offer a location that is neutral, international and connected – one that can serve States and investors from developed as well as developing economies alike.
40. The Government will anchor our bid with a dedicated tribunal building, fully equipped to undertake the hearings, and to house tribunal members, the registry, as well as the supporting facilities.
41. We are also committed to making the Tribunal genuinely accessible, because that is a feature that we really need. We will do so through financial contributions to a fund, to assist participation by developing and least developed countries, and underwrite essential services, such as translation and transcription – all of which serve to make access to the Tribunal a lot easier.
42. Our bid reflects Singapore’s commitment to doing our part in building an institution that is credible, that is accessible, that is fit for purpose, and in doing so, play our part in strengthening the rules-based international order which all of us around the world depend on. We will announce further details of our bid proposal at the appropriate time.
Centre for International Dispute Resolution at NUS
43. Let me now come to our second announcement in this space. The Ministry of Law and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have also decided to establish the Centre for Arbitration and International Dispute Resolution (CAIDR). Let me again unpack the reasons behind this effort.
44. International dispute resolution does not, and cannot, stand still. I think all of you, as practitioners, know this. The system itself has evolved over decades in response to changes in global trade as well as commerce. Law follows business, so we have to respond to the mercantile and commercial needs. Today, it faces another period of change. In fact, I would say a significant period of change. Geopolitical tensions, shifting economic power, increasingly complex regulatory regimes, rapid advances in AI and technology, new forms of commerce and assets, new ways of doing business, and disputes that increasingly cut across jurisdictions, legal systems, as well as areas of public policy.
45. Singapore has benefitted greatly from an international system in which disputes can be resolved according to rules, rather than power.
46. We want to contribute to keeping it strong, trusted and relevant. It needs to continue to evolve – to build thought-leadership as well as engage in forward thinking research on how to sustain the rules-based framework. We need for this to be strong, trusted and relevant. These are words which sometimes comes across as cliché because we use it so often, but they undergird the system as we know it to be, and it must continue to be a feature of the system that we evolve it to become.
47. That is the purpose of the Centre: to build thought leadership, to engage in forward-thinking research, to sustain the rules-based framework, reinventing and evolving it to support the needs of tomorrow.
48. This Centre will bring together leading academics, arbitrators, practitioners as well as policymakers from around the world. We will come together to push boundaries as well as shape the future of dispute resolution.
49. It is fitting that we are establishing this Centre with such an ambitious agenda in Asia. That reflects the reality that the centre of economic activity is steadily shifting towards this region, bringing with it increasing cross-border trade, investment as well as commercial disputes. As an international dispute resolution hub in the heart of Asia, we believe that Singapore is well placed to contribute to these efforts, by bringing together different perspectives from across the region and beyond.
Centre’s Research
50. The Centre’s research will focus on the issues that will define the next generation of international arbitration, as well as international disputes, including transparency and accountability; ethics and professional governance; and investor-state dispute settlement.
51. Let me just emphasise that this will not be research for research’s sake. It will be grounded in practice. It will seek to inform policy. It will improve practice. And it will contribute overall to a much stronger international dispute resolution framework.
52. I myself am very pleased that the Centre will be led by Professor Stavros Brekoulakis. Professor Stavros, whom I am sure is known to most of you, if not all of you, has a pre-eminent reputation, and is internationally recognised as one of the world’s leaders in international arbitration, combining academic excellence with extensive practical experience as counsel, arbitrator as well as advisor. Above all, in my conversations with Professor Stavros, he is deeply committed to strengthening the international dispute resolution framework, continue to keep it relevant, evolve it, and serve the needs of tomorrow before it becomes outdated and redundant. I can really think of no better individual to lead this very important endeavour.
Centre’s Programme
53. The Centre will also launch a new programme of advanced studies in international arbitration.
54. This program is intended for serious practitioners, who have already a meaningful experience acting, presiding over, or in some ways playing a part in international arbitration, and who are then ready to take the next step to deepen that expertise.
55. Admission will therefore be selective. Class size will be intentionally very small, with a curriculum that will be demanding and practical in equal measure.
56. Participants will engage directly with leading arbitrators, with counsel as well as with academics from around the world. They will be challenged, as they learn at the cutting edge of modern arbitration, and be equipped with the tools to lead a successful practice, from wherever part in the world they come from, and from whichever legal system they come from.
57. The emphasis will be practical. Managing complex proceedings, advocacy, strategy, procedural judgment, and of course, equipping and helping experienced practitioners deal with difficult decisions that they will come across every day – judgment, intuition, good sense. I think these are all skills that cannot be taught in a textbook fashion. But with experience, with practice and with a framework that drives it towards a practice-oriented course, we will be able to do so.
58. Equally valuable, I believe, will be the networks. Participants will learn, not only from faculty, but also from one another, because everyone in the classroom will be an experienced practitioner. Building professional relationships across jurisdictions that will endure beyond the programme itself.
59. Our aspiration is quite simple: that this becomes one of the programmes experienced dispute resolution practitioners from across the world aspire to attend.
60. Over time, we hope these two strands will coalesce and reinforce each other. The practitioners who come through the programme will bring with them real problems and perspectives from across the region. Those can spark new ideas and new research that can help us think through some of the challenges that we face today in international arbitration, as well as come together to develop practical solutions for tomorrow.
61. So, as I said, this is not just about producing research and papers, or just running a programme. It is really about an initiative that brings people together, builds ideas, builds on the community and the networks that can shape the future of international dispute resolution.
Conclusion
62. As I conclude, let me just go back to a point about today. Today is, of course, about celebrating UNCITRAL60 and SGLaw200. I hope that, at the door earlier, you would have received a commemorative tote bag that we specially produced for this conference. We spent some time thinking about what should appear as a design of this tote bag. To mark SGLaw200, we have commissioned a special illustration for this occasion. You would have seen it in the opening video, which I hope you did not miss. It depicts some of Singapore’s key legal institutions – a visual reminder of the foundations that have been built over 200 years.
63. Perhaps, most importantly for us, this design was created by Mr Kenneth Lee, through ART:DIS Studio – a creative agency that represents artists and creatives with disabilities. We are very glad to have had the opportunity to work with them, for them to showcase their design, and for this to be something that all of you can take home to different parts of the world. It makes us tremendously proud that artists and creatives with disabilities who express themselves not poorly, but differently from all of us, have an opportunity to be on the world stage as well, sharing the occasion with all of us, and for you to be able to bring home something that has been created by this community in Singapore. It really makes us very happy to be able to do that. I hope the illustration brings as much joy to you as it did to us, and that it serves as a small reminder of your time in Singapore.
64. But more importantly, I hope this conference and the occasion that we have to network and share conversations will strengthen existing friendships, and become the catalyst to forge new partnerships. Because trust, which both Anna and I spoke about, is not a concept that you can touch or you can see. Trust is built by people. It is practised by people who are willing to listen to one another, to learn from one another, and to work openly together to strengthen the international legal order. We might come from different background, with different cultures, instincts and legal systems, but I think that trust is that common currency, that common language that we can exchange and that we can forge together to build a much stronger, better legal model. This is notwithstanding all the difficulties and tensions that we constantly speak about. This, I believe, is our opportunity to come together as a collective to do something, and that something is anchored on the currency of trust.
65. On that note, I wish you a fruitful conference, stimulating discussions, and an enjoyable stay in Singapore. A wise person once told me “Knowledge is good, so you come to conferences to learn about best practices. Know how is better, but know who is best.” So I wish you a great experience getting to know each other and go home with lots of know-whos.
66. Thank you very much.
Last updated on 25 August 2026