UK Mediation Journal Issue 7

Page 26

MEDIATION JOURNAL

in association with:

CIVIL MEDIATION COUNCIL

Big Projects, Big Disputes – Bring in the Mediators By Danny McFadden on 27/04/2018 countries across 4 continents. 65% of the world’s population. 1/3 of Global GDP. 4 – 8 trillion USD overall investment. These are just a handful of the eye-watering numbers associated with one of the largest infrastructure and investment projects in history – China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) Initiative. Coined as the modern day silk road, this project seeks to build a network of roads, railroads, pipelines, powergrids, shipping lanes and economic corridors connecting over 70 countries with a view to boosting trade and bolstering cultural exchanges. To support this gargantuan project, China has set up several financial mechanisms, funded by its foreign-exchange reserves. A 40 billion USD Silk Road Infrastructure Fund has been established to finance the project in addition to the Asian International Infrastructure Bank (AIIB) as a new Multilateral Development Bank (MDB). This bank will complement and cooperate with existing MDBs to support

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infrastructure needs in Asia. Change and development in new areas can always come with the risk of potential conflict – what is important is to have dependable mechanisms to manage difficulties it they arise.

Mediation in Large Scale Infrastructure Projects Mediation is a proven dispute resolution tool for disputes involving vast sums of money, multiple and diverse stakeholders and complex, legal, commercial and personal issues. The value of mediation, in addition to its time and cost efficiency, is its flexibility and adaptability. It can be used as a standalone process or can form part of a stepped dispute resolution procedure, proceeding bilateral negotiations and preceding arbitration and litigation. Also, when faced with large, multi-party, complex cases, a mediator can also act as a facilitator of early-negotiations between parties allowing for the exchange and management of documents, narrowing and

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