2008 Archives

Archives of Parliamentary Excerpts, Press Releases, and Speeches

4 October 2008
JBJ in Memorial

21 January 2008
Speech in Parliament by Chiam See Tong on HDB upgrading


2007 Archives

22 October 2007
Amendment of the Panel Code

5 October 2007
Press release on Myanmar's Military Junta

22 May 2007
Parliamentary Debates

9 April 2007
Speech in Parliament by Chiam See Tong on Ministers' salary hikes

4 February 2007
Speech during MP's dialogue session by Lim Bak Chuan on GST increase

INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION (ADMENDMENT) BILL - Chiam See Tong :

19 October 09

This Bill updates the definition of "arbitration Agreements" in part 2, by expressly including arbitration agreements made by electronic communications;

Clause 2 amends section 2(1) by redefining "arbitration agreement "to clarify an arbitration agreement can be made by electronic communications as defined in Option 1 of article 7 of the model law of International arbitrations as amended by the United Nations Commission of International Trade Laws (Un Citral) in 2006.

International Arbitration is becoming more widespread.

Singapore aspires to be an International Arbitration hub of the region.

We have the expertise, but more importantly Singapore must build up a reputation as a fair and honest place where impartiality is an accepted norm.

We must also put in place our arbitration laws which recognize the irrevocability of arbitration agreements, and the enforceability of awards prevails.

The method of selecting arbitrators is an important aspect of the arbitration process, for arbitrators' ability and fairness are the decisive element in arbitrations.