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Objectives


General Objective

This project aims to facilitate international trade, including South-South trade, and foreign investment in 10 MEDA countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and West Bank & Gaza) through building increased confidence in and capacity to conduct and manage commercial dispute resolution methods. The main project activities are split into discrete major initiatives to: distribute information on dispute settlement techniques; provide technical assistance, including training of dispute resolution specialists; develop regionally-specific procedures and protocols; and disseminate contractual instruments.

Specific Objectives

  1. Promote awareness, acceptance, and use of international arbitration and mediation in the MEDA countries, with special attention to small and medium sized enterprises, in order to resolve international commercial disputes arising from:
    • Business transactions between MEDA and EU-based companies;
    • Business transactions between companies based in two or more MEDA countries;
    • Disputes arising from foreign investment.
  2. Provide technical assistance to organizations, which includes:
    • Offering specialized dispute resolution training;
    • Preparing draft dispute resolution regulations and contractual arrangements; and
    • Disseminating information and promoting networking.
  3. Encourage creating and strengthening existing Arbitration/Mediation Centers including promoting networking of EU Arbitration/ADR Centers with existing MEDA counterpart institutions, bearing in mind that the present project is intended to integrate local initiatives, without creating assistance-dependent services (see more below on sustainability aspects).