Branch Focus - Egypt Branch

CIArb’s Egypt branch was established on 5 February 1999 as the first ever CIArb Branch in the region and the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) was announced as its seat. As of 1999, the Branch, in collaboration with CRCICA, held regular CIArb membership courses and around one third of members at that time were Arab members from outside Egypt.

In addition to the benefits credited by the CIArb to CIArb members, the Egypt Branch delivers a range of privileges to its members to enhance their career development of its members.

The majority of the Egypt Branch members (67.2%) are young members below 40 years (Chart 1), while about a quarter of members are females (Chart 2). The business profile of Branch members reflects diversity and inclusion, as it comprises a variety of business sectors and professional expertise (Chart 3).

The Branch Committee as well is led by expert professionals with a diversity of business sectors and covers the following areas: Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Sudan and Syria.

Inclusion of young members

During 2020 and early 2021, the Branch launched two new initiatives focusing on presenting opportunities for young members interested in arbitration and ADR to connect and benefit from the activities provided by the Branch; namely: The Mentoring Programme and the Young Members Group (YMG).

The Mentoring Programme was launched by the Branch in September 2020 as the first programme initiated by a CIArb Branch in the region. The first One-Year cycle of the Programme started in mid-March 2021. The Programme provides young Branch members with career guidance and arbitration/ADR practical knowledge through learning from the experience of more senior members of the arbitration community. CIArb Members may apply to participate in the Mentoring Programme at the start of each new cycle.

The Egypt Branch YMG presents new opportunities for Branch young Members under 40 years to connect and benefit from activities provided by the Egypt Branch and other CIArb Branches.

Events

During 2020 and early 2021, the Egypt Branch organized 12 interesting events focusing on various topics (mostly conducted virtually due to COVID 19) and co-organized with CRCICA two in-person training courses on Comparative Commercial Arbitration in Theory and Practice (CCATP) potentially leading to CIArb membership. Speakers of some events were from the Scottish Arbitration Centre, Law School of Robert Gordon University, Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF), Dispute Review Boards (DRB), and the UNCTAD. For more information about the Branch activities please visit the Egypt Branch web page. 

Interview with Professor Dr Mohamed Abdel Raouf MCIArb, Egypt Branch chair

What do you want to see in your Branch this year?

• Successfully launching the first cycle of the Branch’s Mentoring Programme initiated by the Branch in September 2020 as the first mentoring programme by a CIArb Branch in the region;
• Successfully holding, for the first time since the Branch’s inception in 1999, contested election to fill three vacancies on the Branch Committee;
• Successfully launching the Branch’s Young Members Group (YMG);
• Holding Module 1 on Mediation Training and Assessment in June/July 2021;
• Holding two ARM in International Arbitration in July and December 2021;
• Holding non-member training courses and other events as scheduled in the Branch’s 2021 development plan including on construction disputes, adjudication and arbitration;
• Increasing the number of members of the Branch mainly through training; and
• Conducting joint events with other CIArb Branches.

How will you implement and deliver success?

• Increasing the Branch’s fully approved local Faculty in Arbitration, Mediation and Adjudication;
• Holding various events including training courses, webinars, workshops and roundtables;
• Regularly and directly consulting and liaising with the CIArb Director General and Director of Education and Training;
• Entrusting recently elected Committee Members having relevant experience with specific tasks aiming at implementing the Branch’s projects and achieving its goals; and
• Enhancing collaboration with other CIArb’s Branches.

How have you used social networking?

We are indeed already using social networking including LinkedIn in order to promote our events and activities and to receive feedback.

With respect to our young members, since we are still at the formation stage of our YMG, our aim is to reach a higher number of young members in order to inform them of the group, encourage participation and hear their ideas and expectations on what the YMG should focus on. We plan to do this through regular emails, a presence on LinkedIn connected through the CIArb page and eventually roll out a possible Facebook/Instagram for more user interaction. We also plan for regular meetings to take place on monthly, bimonthly or quarterly basis (to be agreed in the CIArb Annual Meeting).

What will you do to engage younger members?

In order to engage our younger members, we plan to encourage participation and allocate tasks to create a sense of ownership of YMG activities. We will engage our younger members in hosting webinars and events, that are targeted to their own needs, and generate with them new ideas on topics they will find interesting and informative for the webinars and even potential articles. Further, we are currently organising a joint event with our London YMG counterparts, which will allow for broader networking and cross-jurisdictional comparative learning/opportunities for our younger members.

How will you communicate more effectively with your members?

For current members, we are already directly communicating with them mainly through phone calls and regular emails. We are also regularly encouraging them to attend our events, including the Wednesday ones, which offer a very good opportunity for networking, hearing their ideas, concerns and expectations. We have also one Committee member dedicated to liaising with our members.

With respect to the young members. we are just at the start of our journey, but through our emails, transparent and responsive communication we have been able to galvanise enthusiasm and excitement around the formation of CIArb Egypt Branch YMG. We will continue to be attentive to the needs of the members and have provided clear channels for them to get in touch with us.

Do you have a social media presence as a Branch? (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter)

Please visit the Egypt Branch LinkedIn page here.   

Branch Demographic Data