This Practice Note discusses the procedural framework for investment arbitration in the GCC Countries. It introduces the reader to investment laws and the main multi- and bi-lateral arrangements in place in the Gulf that may assist foreign investors in bringing investment claims against a GCC host State.

The Practice Note outlines the principal substantive protections available to a foreign investor under the various investment instruments of relevance to the region. The Practice Note also introduces the reader to the various dispute resolution processes provided for in those instruments and explains how these operate in practice. Annex 1 contains a summary table of the minimum protections and the dispute resolution provisions contained in each investment instrument, arranged by country.

Finally, the Practice Note concludes with some considerations on recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards that result from the operation of arbitration processes under the various investment instruments discussed in the Practice Note.

AIC: Arab Investment Court, established in 1986 under the Arab Investment Agreement and composed of at least five serving judges each with a different Arab nationality which must not be the same nationality as either of the parties to the dispute, seated in Cairo.