30 August 2023
On August 25, Mr Paul Lam SC, Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong, led six DVC members and other members from the Hong Kong legal profession to attend the 2nd Seminar on the Legal Challenges and Coping Strategies under the Belt and Road Initiative in Beijing. The Seminar was hosted by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council, and co-organised by the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce (DOT&L) and the DoJ.
The main focus of this year’s Seminar is to discuss the strength of Hong Kong's common law system and how Hong Kong's legal services can support Mainland enterprises to "go global" and overcome the legal challenges and risks faced by Mainland enterprises in expanding to overseas markets.
Ms Winnie Tam SBS SC JP, Head of Des Voeux Chambers, former Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, and Hong Kong Representative of the ICC Arbitration Commission, participated in the second session of the seminar: Challenges and Responses to Legal Compliance Risks in the Belt and Road Initiative, where she introduced the advantages of choosing Hong Kong’s dispute resolution services.
In particular, Winnie emphasized that parties choosing Hong Kong's dispute resolution services enjoy a high degree of autonomy, with an array of dispute resolution forms and flexible arbitration terms. Further, many prominent international dispute resolution service providers have established offices in Hong Kong, attracting bilingual legal and dispute resolution professionals from diverse backgrounds. Hong Kong is at the forefront of providing alternative dispute resolution services using online dispute resolution technology, and its arbitral awards are recognized and enforced internationally. In addition, Hong Kong has been given full support by the Central Government in building an international legal and dispute resolution centre for the Asia-Pacific region under the National 14th Five-Year Plan.
Over 20 members of the Hong Kong Bar Association attended the event, including DVC members Douglas Lam SC, Sabrina Ho, Cherry Xu, Tiffany Chan, and Howard Wong.
A total of 150 participants attended the event, including representatives from 86 state-owned enterprises and private companies.
*Photo credit to Hong Kong Bar Association, Mr Paul Lam SC and Sabrina Ho
