Bahrain Hosts High-Level Workshop on Investor-State Negotiations with ICSID and Harvard Experts

TDT | Manama

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Council for International Dispute Resolution of the Kingdom of Bahrain hosts Workshops in cooperation with ICSID and Harvard Negotiation experts On 10 September 2025, the Council for International Dispute Resolution of the Kingdom of Bahrain hosted a workshop designed for stakeholders in government on investor-State negotiations and mediation.

The full-day program was tailored for government officials directly involved in investment treaty negotiations, contract negotiations, dispute settlement, and parliamentary engagement. It was part of a series of workshops conducted over the past four days by Ken Hyatt, former Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Commerce Department.

Notably, Ken Hyatt was part of the Harvard Negotiation Project, co-founded by Roger Fisher in 1979, to develop negotiation theory and practice, for judges, the Economic Development Board and members of the legal community. It was organized in cooperation with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), part of the World Bank Group, with whom the Council signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in February 2025.

The opening remarks were delivered by Professor Marike Patrani Paulsson, Secretary-General of the Council, who announced plans to launch a roadshow technical workshop series across the GCC, Asia and beyond in the space of ISDS mediation and negotiations.

She also announced the creation of a task force to collaborate with ICSID, World Bank, UNCITRAL and development banks to draft a model legislation and regulation to deal with some of the challenges in investor-State negotiations and mediation. The initiative is the first of its kind and cements Bahrain’s role in dispute resolution domains.