More than 300 meetings have been held at the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) in the past year, as the central and SAR governments pledged to continue promoting Hong Kong as a global mediation hub.

On its first anniversary on Tuesday, IOMed also successfully mediated a construction dispute in Malaysia.

"The case was brought by the offeror who made an offer to mediate in the absence of a prior agreement to mediation," IOMed Secretary-General Teresa Cheng told guests at a ceremony at its headquarters in Wan Chai.

"This case showcased IOMed's institutional value in facilitating mediation and settlement, even where the parties had no pre-existing mediation agreement. I sometimes described it as we conducting pre-mediation mediation."

Cheng said the case was completed in one day at its headquarters, while another one was being handled online.

Speaking to the press afterwards, she said the body was now handling dozens of enquiries, while it would reach out to more countries to persuade them to become signatory states.

At the same ceremony, Chief Executive John Lee said dedicated policies were in the pipeline to give IOMed a boost.

"Building on the government's 'mediate first' policy, we will include IOMed mediation as a dispute resolution option in government contracts and agreements to which Hong Kong is a party," he said.

"Hong Kong, after all, is the world's only Chinese‑English, bilingual common law jurisdiction. And our status as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre is internationally recognised."

The Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, Cui Jianchun, also reaffirmed Beijing's support.

"As both initiator and host country, China remains fully committed to supporting the development of IOMed. This support is rooted in China's belief in peaceful dispute settlement and the global governance initiative," he said.


Edited by Aaron Tam