Overview

Cameron May, a London based international law publisher, hosted the inaugural Commercial and Investment Arbitration in Latin America Conference in Quito on 28-30th November 2007. Over 250 participants made the event one of the biggest and most high profile of its kind to be held in South America in the recent past. The Conference was opened by Jaime Velasco Dávila, the President of the Ecuadorian Supreme Court. Lawyers, academics and senior government officials from more than ten countries tackled the unique challenges faced by Latin governments, investors/multi-national corporations and practitioners.
 
With constitutional reform in Ecuador as the backdrop, the Conference also celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Ecuadorian Arbitration Act. The message emerged loud and clear. Ecuador must continue to promote arbitration as a dispute settlement mechanism. It must renew its commitment to the rule of law and transparency in its dealings with investors. Rather than following Bolivia, which has recently withdrawn from ICSID, into an investment black-hole Ecuador ought to be trying to emulate Mexico and Columbia’s efforts to woo foreign investment by nurturing a constitutional landscape to enable arbitration to thrive.

Cameron May would like to thank Pérez Bustamante & Ponce (Ecuador) and King & Spalding (US) particularly Javier Robalino and Roberto Aguirre for contributing to this impressive programme. They were joined by highly regarded speakers such as Paul Reichler, Hugo Perezcano, Eduardo Zuleta, Manuel Villa-García, Eduardo Carmigniani, Victorino Tejera, Alberto Wray and Fabian Corral to name a few. You can see the full programme in the conference section of our website.

Cameron May’s Latin American branch will continue to organise more conferences in the region and invite you to visit our website for more information.