The Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR-AAA) was an official supporter of the 21st Gulf Engineering Forum, which took place at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Manama, Bahrain, on 21 and 22 February 2018. A key event for the engineering profession, this year's Forum - the fourth to be held in Bahrain and the biggest ever with some 300 attendees - was devoted to "Disputes in Engineering Projects and Resolution Methods". It was organized by the Gulf Engineering Union and the Bahrain Society of Engineers and enjoyed the patronage of Bahrain's prime minister, His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa.
Introducing the Forum, the President of the Bahrain Society of Engineers, Mr. Masoud Al Hermi, explained that the choice of engineering disputes as the subject of this year's Forum was intended to address some of the key challenges facing Gulf communities, with disputes having become an inevitable by-product of economic growth in the Gulf and particularly the boom in industrial and architectural projects.
Professor Nassib Ziadé, BCDR-AAA CEO, pointed out that the Chamber's support of the Gulf Engineering Forum reflected its belief in the importance of collaborating with professional bodies at local, regional and international levels. This was illustrated by the participation of BCDR-AAA's Chief Operating Officer Mr. Ahmed Husain in the Forum's Advisory Committee, and BCDR-AAA Case Manager Mr. Salman Farooq Ahmed's membership of the Forum's Technical Committee. Professor Ziadé underlined the timeliness of this year's subject in light of the remarkable growth of the construction industry in the region, and noted that BCDR-AAA had for this reason devoted the July 2017 issue of the BCDR International Arbitration Review to the topic of construction arbitration in the Middle East.