Middle East

States from the Middle East have concluded about 600 investment deals. 44 ISDS cases have been brought against Middle Eastern countries, while investors from the region have initiated 44 cases as well.

In 2013, Al-Kharafi & Sons Co., investors from Kuwait, were awarded US$935 million under the Unified Agreement for the Investment of Arab Capital in the Arab States, in a dispute over a land-leasing contract for a tourism project in Libya, making it one of the largest known awards to date. They had only invested about US$5 million but the arbitration tribunal decided that Libya also had to compensate for profits that would have been made during the 90-year leasing contract and were now lost.

Photo: President of Azerbaijan / CC BY 4.0

(April 2020)

The Express Tribune | 11-Dec-2018
Pakistan’s assets abroad are at risk of being taken over as a security to implement the international arbitration court’s ruling.
Globe Newswire | 17-Jul-2018
Russian businesswoman Marsha Lazareva has filed a notice of international arbitration with the State of Kuwait for breaching a bilateral investment treaty.
The Guardian | 12-Jul-2018
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regime accused of illegally seizing company assets and breaching investment treaties involving Britain and other EU states.
The Investor | 4-Jul-2018
South Korea is seeking to cancel a recent investor-state dispute settlement decision by an international tribunal in which the government was asked to compensate US$65 million to an Iranian company.
Express Tribune | 24-Jun-2018
Due to the failure of the caretaker government to deposit Rs15 billion security guarantee, a stay order in favour of Pakistan on the execution of the $846 million arbitration cost awarded to the Turkish firm, Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim has been vacated.
KBS | 11-Jun-2018
El Gobierno surcoreano ha perdido una disputa legal contra una firma iraní por la fallida adquisición de Daewoo Electronics en 2011.
Business Korea | 8-Jun-2018
The Korean government was ordered to pay about 73 billion won to an Iranian investor who filed an investor-state lawsuit, claiming that he suffered losses in the process of participating in an auction for Daewoo Electronics in 2010.
Metro | 24-May-2018
Le projet de traité d’arbitrage liant la Belgique et le Luxembourg à Oman a été approuvé, par le Parlement de Wallonie
Turkey Telegraph | 18-May-2018
ICSID imposes a fine of 64.5 million euros for a claim by a fund of the state of Abu Dhabi.
Lexology | 9-May-2018
Whilst there is a plethora of literature on BIT protection, relatively little is known on how the OIC Agreement can assist investors.