Introduction - Chapter 1 - Asian Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration
Michael Pryles is the Chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC). He is the former president of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, a member of the International Council of Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), a court member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and is Co-Chair of the ICC Asia Arbitration Commission. Mr. Pryles was the foundation president of the Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group (APRAG), an association of some 29 arbitral centres and organisations. He was formerly a Commissioner of the United Nations Compensation Commission where he served for over eight years on two panels, chairing one of them. Michael is currently a consultant at the law firm Clayton Utz and was a partner in another leading firm. Before then he was Henry Bournes Higgins Professor of Law at Monash University in Australia.
Michael J. Moser is the Chairman of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and also serves as Co-Chair of the China Arbitration Forum, Vice President of the Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group and a Vice Chair of the Arbitration Committee of the IBA. Mr Moser is a Chartered Arbitrator and has acted as arbitrator or counsel in both ad hoc proceedings under the UNCITRAL Rules and in cases under the rules of the ICC, SIAC, SCC, LCIA, JCAA, AAA and other institutions in Asia, Europe and North America. He is also a member of the panel of arbitrators of CIETAC and was the first foreigner to be appointed as an arbitrator in China. A resident of China for more than 30 years, he speaks fluent Chinese. Mr Moser has written widely in the area of dispute settlement and is General Editor of The Journal of International Arbitration. He is a partner with the firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP and an adjunct professor at the City University of Hong Kong and the University of Zurich.
Originally from Asian Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration
The essays in this volume, prepared by a virtual “who’s who” of the leading arbitrators in Asia, present a unique insight into arbitration practices and procedures in the world’s largest and fastest growing region. Before turning to the contributions, and letting our experts speak for themselves, we offer a few words of introduction about the setting within which arbitration is being practised in Asia today.
I. THE MOSAIC OF ASIA
Asia is the largest continent on the earth. As befitting its size, it is a land mass full of diversity – physical, climatic, political, economic, cultural, linguistic and legal.
The states of Asia vary enormously in size from giants such as China, with a surface area of 9,561,000 sq kms and a population of 1.3 billion, and India, with a surface area of 3,287,000 sq kms and population of 1.1 billion, to the city-state of Singapore, with a surface area of 1,000 sq kms and a population of 4.4 million. Economic development also varies considerably from largely rural and agrarian economies such as that of Laos to developed economies such as those of Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore and the emerging powerhouses of China, India and the Republic of Korea. Numerous languages are spoken across the continent and even in individual States. Political systems span the spectrum from socialist systems, as in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), to the vibrant democracy of India. Religious affiliations vary with some countries having a majority of Christians (Philippines), Hindus (India), Buddhists (Thailand) and Muslims (Malaysia, Indonesia).