INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION 1/3LY
IN CONVERSATION WITH CHIANN BAO 03
IN CONVERS AT ION WI TH CHI ANN BAO SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE HONG KONG INT ERNAT IONAL ARBI TRAT ION CENTRE Kim Barton, Counsel in our Hong Kong construction arbitration practice in conversation with Chiann Bao, Secretary General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)
HONG KONG : A V I BR A N T CEN T RE F OR IN T ERN AT I ON A L D I SP U T E RE SOL U T I ON K IM You’ve been Secretary General of the HKIAC for slightly longer than four years now. What was your pathway to becoming Secretary General in Hong Kong? CHI ANN I started out as a legal assistant at New York firm, Cravath, Swaine&Moore LLP, and during that time I decided I wanted to live abroad. At college I had studied abroad in Beijing, and I was keen to return to Asia so I applied for a Fulbright scholarship to Hong Kong. It was through researching my proposal to Fulbright that I first came across international arbitration. I incorporated Hong Kong’s status as a cross-cultural hub for dispute resolution intomy proposal. A year later I foundmyself starting aMasters in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution at the City University of Hong Kong. While there, I met many of the great and the good of the Hong Kong arbitration community, including Neil Kaplan. And I participated in the VisMoot competition in Vienna, whichwas a game changer for me. It was in Vienna that I got my first taste of the community and energy of international commercial arbitration. A fewyears later, I was looking tomove to London and found an advertisement in theMoot Alumni Association newsletter for an arbitration assistant position to Neil Kaplan. I was offered the job andmoved to London, where I stayed for a year as Neil’s assistant. In January 2010, I learned about the position of Secretary General of the HKIAC through Neil Kaplan. Within fivemonths, I received the offer andmoved to Hong Kong.
K IM That was quick. So you obviously felt the pull back to Hong Kong as a dynamic venue for international arbitration. In your view, what is it that makes Hong Kong such a popular place for people to bring their disputes?What does it have to offer? CHI ANN Aside fromhaving everything that people want out of a city, Hong Kong is one of the places that has really bought into the whole arbitration process. Hong Kong ticks all of the boxes when it comes to being an ideal place for dispute resolution. Hong Kong was one of the first jurisdictions in the region to adopt the UNCITRALModel Lawand has since been influential in establishing the jurisprudence under the UNCITRALModel Law. The natural market growth it has enjoyed is particularly attractive. High calibre experts, accountants and engineers are all here too. Hong Kong’s a proper “one stop shop.” On top of that it’s an excellent arbitration community which spans several generations now. K IM Sure, HKIAC has been around for 30 years now. CHI ANN Exactly, HKIACwill be celebrating its 30th anniversary next year. K IM There’s certainly a lot of expertise available close at hand in Hong Kong that you don’t always get in other centres. Since you’ve been Secretary General, there’s been quite a lot of change at the HKIAC. What do you see as themost important changes during your time at the helm?
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