International Commercial Arbitration and Mediation as Drivers of Asia-Pacific Economic Regionalism: Potential, Interim Results and Limitations (1991 - Present)

This research examines international commercial arbitration and mediation as the main drivers of Asia-Pacific economic regionalism. The research question is why arbitration and mediation are the most effective in resolving disputes in the region? The study uses various methods to analyse information and current trends in the region, including the analysis of officially published documents of organisations and governmental laws as well as published scientific papers related to this topic. The structure of this study was first to analyse basic information about alternative dispute resolution methods in general at the international level, with special attention paid to the role and development of arbitration and mediation in the last few decades. Next, the trend of economic development in the Asia-Pacific region was considered, starting with the general globalisation in the region and ending with the production of global value chains. In addition, institutional and multilateral initiatives were also discussed, with a general overview of their features and benefits for the region. Then, the role of various international arbitration and mediation centers, such as Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), and their concomitant impact on the economic landscape in the Asia-Pacific was evaluated. As a result, the main reasons of arbitration’s and mediation’s impact in the development of economic regionalism as well as their general role as a whole in the region of Asia-Pacific were interpreted.