Where is the AIJA Marrakesh event being held?

The event is scheduled to take place in the city of Marrakesh, MAR.

What is the primary focus of the AIJA Marrakesh conference?

The conference focuses on international business law and arbitration within a globalized economy, exploring the crossroads of commerce.

AIJA Marrakesh 2027 – Crossroads of Commerce: International Business Law and Arbitration in a Globalized Economy

Name: AIJA Marrakesh 2027 – Crossroads of Commerce: International Business Law and Arbitration in a Globalized Economy
Start: 2027-04-15T00:00:00Z
End: 2027-04-17T00:00:00Z
Location: Marrakesh

Apr 15–17, 2027Marrakesh, MoroccoIn-person

Registration open

The AIJA Marrakesh event, themed "Crossroads of Commerce: International Business Law and Arbitration in a Globalized Economy," convenes in the city of Marrakesh, Morocco. This gathering focuses on the intricate legal frameworks governing international commerce and the mechanisms of dispute resolution, particularly arbitration, within an increasingly interconnected global economic landscape. It offers a platform for legal professionals to delve into the complexities and evolving nature of international business law.

Committees & topics

Topics
International Business Law in a Fragmenting Global Economy · International Commercial and Investment Arbitration · Cross-Border Investment Structuring and Tax · Regulatory Compliance: Sanctions, AML, and Extraterritoriality · Corporate Governance and ESG Accountability · Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Beyond Arbitration · Investing in Emerging Markets: Risk, Regulation, and Returns · African Regulatory Frameworks and the AfCFTA Era

Why it matters

In an era defined by rapid globalization and cross-border transactions, understanding the nuances of international business law and arbitration is paramount. This event addresses the critical need for legal practitioners to navigate diverse legal systems and resolve commercial disputes efficiently. The focus on a globalized economy underscores the interconnectedness of markets and the necessity for harmonized, yet adaptable, legal approaches.

The discussions will likely explore how legal frameworks adapt to new business models, technological advancements, and geopolitical shifts that impact international trade. The emphasis on arbitration highlights its growing importance as a preferred method for resolving international commercial disagreements, offering flexibility and enforceability across jurisdictions. For legal professionals, staying abreast of these developments is not merely advantageous but essential for effective practice in a globalized world.

How to prepare

Delegates should prepare by familiarizing themselves with the foundational principles of international business law and the various forms of international arbitration. An understanding of the legal and economic landscape of MAR, as the host country, will provide valuable context for discussions on regional and global trade dynamics. Research into recent trends in international commercial contracts and dispute resolution clauses will also be beneficial.

Consider the role of various stakeholders in international commercial disputes. Understanding their interests and potential impacts on legal outcomes is crucial. This involves not only direct parties to a dispute but also regulatory bodies, industry associations, and other influential entities. A comprehensive understanding of these elements will enable more informed participation and a deeper appreciation of the event's themes.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Morocco

As the host nation, MAR serves as a key example of a country at the crossroads of international commerce, offering insights into regional legal practices and arbitration frameworks.

Role in topic

MAR's strategic geographical position makes it a significant hub for trade between continents, providing a relevant backdrop for discussions on international business law and arbitration. Its evolving legal and economic environment offers practical case studies for the themes of the conference.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

International Business Law in a Fragmenting Global Economy

International business law emerged from the post-1945 effort to rebuild predictable rules for cross-border commerce, anchored by the Bretton Woods institutions, the GATT (later WTO), and a growing web of bilateral and regional treaties. Instruments such as the 1980 UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), UNIDROIT Principles, and the UNCITRAL Model Laws gradually harmonized contract, sales, and commercial dispute rules, while the OECD and the International Chamber of Commerce shaped soft-law standards on everything from Incoterms to anti-bribery enforcement. The last decade has put that liberal order under strain. US-China trade tensions, sweeping sanctions regimes against Russia, export controls on semiconductors and critical minerals, and the rise of industrial policy in the EU and US Inflation Reduction Act have reintroduced state intervention as a structural feature of cross-border commerce. Supply-chain due-diligence laws (Germany's LkSG, the EU CSDDD), carbon border adjustments, and digital services regulations now extend the regulatory perimeter well beyond traditional trade rules. Today the field sits at a crossroads: businesses must navigate overlapping and sometimes contradictory regimes, while WTO dispute settlement remains hobbled by the blocked Appellate Body. Debate centers on how to preserve harmonization and rule-of-law predictability in a more fragmented, security-driven economic order.

Key players

International Commercial and Investment Arbitration

Modern international arbitration rests on two pillars: the 1958 New York Convention, which made arbitral awards enforceable in over 170 jurisdictions, and the 1965 ICSID Convention, which created a dedicated forum for investor-state disputes. Institutional rules from the ICC, LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, and SCC, together with the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (1985, revised 2006), built a relatively uniform procedural framework that turned arbitration into the default mechanism for resolving cross-border commercial disputes. The system is now under significant pressure. Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) faces a legitimacy crisis: the EU has withdrawn from the Energy Charter Treaty, several Latin American and African states have denounced BITs, and UNCITRAL Working Group III is negotiating systemic reform, including a possible standing investment court and an appellate mechanism. Concerns about costs, transparency, third-party funding, arbitrator diversity, and inconsistent awards have driven a wave of rule revisions across major institutions. At the same time, arbitration is expanding into new domains — climate disputes, sanctions-related claims, and technology and data disputes — while emerging hubs in Casablanca, Dubai, Riyadh, and Kigali compete with traditional seats. Delegates must weigh how to preserve enforceability and party autonomy while answering legitimate critiques of the system.

Key players

Cross-Border Investment Structuring and Tax

For decades, multinationals have structured cross-border investments through holding companies in treaty-favorable jurisdictions to optimize tax, manage risk, and access investor protections under bilateral investment treaties (BITs). The architecture has rested on the OECD Model Tax Convention, the UN Model, and a dense network of double-taxation treaties, complemented by transfer pricing rules and a growing body of anti-abuse doctrines. This architecture has been transformed by the OECD/G20 BEPS project. The Multilateral Instrument (MLI) introduced the Principal Purpose Test into thousands of treaties, while the 2021 agreement on a Two-Pillar Solution — Pillar One reallocating taxing rights and Pillar Two establishing a 15% global minimum tax — marks the most significant overhaul of international taxation in a century. Implementation is now under way in the EU, UK, and many other jurisdictions, even as the US debates its position and developing countries push, through the UN Tax Committee, for a more inclusive global tax framework. For practitioners, structuring decisions must now balance tax efficiency with substance requirements, beneficial ownership transparency (FATF, common reporting standards), sanctions exposure, and the erosion of treaty shopping. The field is moving from optimization toward defensibility, with growing attention to investment routing through African and Gulf jurisdictions seeking to attract regional headquarters.

Key players

Regulatory Compliance: Sanctions, AML, and Extraterritoriality

Compliance has evolved from a back-office function into a core strategic concern for multinational businesses. The modern framework grew out of the 1977 US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the 1997 OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. The UK Bribery Act 2010 and the French Sapin II law extended similar duties globally, while the EU's GDPR set a new benchmark for data protection enforcement. Since 2014, and dramatically since 2022, sanctions have become the defining compliance challenge. US, EU, and UK measures against Russia, Iran, and a growing list of designated persons have created complex, sometimes divergent obligations with significant extraterritorial reach, including secondary sanctions and the OFAC 50% rule. At the same time, ESG-related regulation — EU CSRD, CSDDD, the German Supply Chain Act, and forced-labor import bans — has imposed extensive due-diligence and reporting obligations across global supply chains. Firms now face overlapping regimes administered by US OFAC, the EU, the UK OFSI, and increasingly by Asian and Gulf regulators, with enforcement risk further amplified by whistleblower programs and large monetary penalties. The central debate is how to reconcile compliance with sovereignty, blocking statutes, and the cost of doing business in higher-risk markets.

Key players

Corporate Governance and ESG Accountability

Corporate governance norms were shaped by successive waves of crisis: Enron and WorldCom produced the US Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; the 2008 financial crisis drove Dodd-Frank and the strengthening of EU banking governance; and corporate scandals across jurisdictions inspired the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance, the UK Corporate Governance Code, and a global proliferation of stewardship codes. Board independence, audit oversight, and shareholder rights became baseline expectations for listed companies. The agenda has expanded substantially to encompass ESG and sustainability. The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), and the IFRS Foundation's ISSB standards now require detailed climate and human-rights disclosures. Activist investors, shareholder litigation, and landmark decisions such as the Dutch Shell ruling have transformed climate strategy into a board-level legal duty. Diversity quotas, say-on-pay rules, and tighter related-party transaction regimes have followed. Governance is also contending with new ownership structures — sovereign wealth funds, private equity, dual-class shares, and state-owned enterprises competing globally — and with politicized backlash to ESG in some jurisdictions. The challenge is harmonizing governance expectations across markets while preserving accountability to shareholders, stakeholders, and host states.

Key players

Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Beyond Arbitration

Cross-border commercial disputes have historically moved between national courts and arbitral tribunals, but the toolkit has broadened considerably. The 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements and the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention aim to give court judgments cross-border portability comparable to arbitral awards under the New York Convention. The 2019 Singapore Convention on Mediation now provides a similar enforcement regime for international settlement agreements, signaling a shift toward negotiated outcomes. Specialized international commercial courts have proliferated: the Singapore International Commercial Court, the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts, the Astana International Financial Centre Court, the Netherlands Commercial Court, and dedicated chambers in Paris and Frankfurt all compete to attract complex cross-border litigation, typically with English-language proceedings and common-law-influenced procedure. Class actions, third-party funding, and collective redress mechanisms (notably under the EU Representative Actions Directive) have further reshaped the dispute landscape. Key contemporary debates focus on parallel proceedings and anti-suit injunctions, the enforceability of judgments against sanctioned parties, the treatment of cryptoasset and data disputes, and the role of mediation as a mandatory step before adjudication. The trend is toward a more pluralistic dispute resolution ecosystem in which parties choose among courts, arbitration, mediation, and hybrid mechanisms.

Key players

Investing in Emerging Markets: Risk, Regulation, and Returns

Emerging markets have driven global growth for much of the past three decades, with foreign direct investment flowing into China, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and increasingly Africa. The legal infrastructure for these flows rests on bilateral investment treaties, regional integration projects (Mercosur, ASEAN, AfCFTA), and host-country investment codes promising stability, repatriation rights, and access to international arbitration. The risk profile has shifted markedly. Sovereign debt distress — from Argentina to Sri Lanka, Zambia, and Ghana — has triggered complex restructurings under the G20 Common Framework. Resource nationalism has resurged in lithium, copper, and cobalt sectors from Chile to the DRC and Indonesia. Currency volatility, capital controls, expropriation risk, and political transitions in the Sahel and elsewhere have increased reliance on political risk insurance, ICSID arbitration, and creative financing structures. At the same time, emerging markets are increasingly capital exporters and rule-makers. Gulf sovereign wealth funds, Chinese Belt and Road financing, and Indian and Brazilian multinationals are reshaping investment patterns. Delegates must consider how investment protection, debt sustainability, and host-state development priorities can be reconciled in a more multipolar investment landscape.

Key players

African Regulatory Frameworks and the AfCFTA Era

Africa's regulatory landscape has long been fragmented across more than 50 jurisdictions, multiple legal traditions (common law, civil law, Islamic law, and customary law), and overlapping regional economic communities such as ECOWAS, EAC, SADC, and COMESA. The Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), established in 1993, brought 17 mostly Francophone states under a uniform business-law regime covering commercial, corporate, secured transactions, and arbitration rules administered by the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration in Abidjan. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), operational since 2021, is the most ambitious integration project, aiming to create a single market of 1.4 billion people. Trading under the agreement has begun, and protocols on investment, competition, intellectual property, digital trade, and women and youth in trade are being progressively concluded. Continental institutions — the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, the African Union's regulatory bodies, and emerging continental standards on data protection (Malabo Convention) — are gradually shaping a pan-African legal architecture. Key challenges include harmonizing investment regimes after the lapsing of many old BITs, managing critical-minerals value chains, building local arbitration capacity (Cairo, Lagos, Kigali, Casablanca, Nairobi), and aligning national regulators on digital finance, fintech, and competition. The agenda is whether Africa can convert market size into bargaining power and coherent regulation.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for AIJA Marrakesh 2027 – Crossroads of Commerce: International Business Law and Arbitration in a Globalized Economy.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Bhagwant Mann Launches Punjab Campaign Summit

Punjab Politics

Adani's Guna Plant Boosts MP's Gati-Shakti

Macron's Kenya Summit: France's Africa Reset

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Conflict Resolution

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Morocco April 2027

By committee

Frequently asked questions

AIJA Marrakesh 2027 – Crossroads of Commerce: International Business Law and Arbitration in a Globalized Economy

Apr 15–17, 2027Marrakesh, MoroccoIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
International Business Law in a Fragmenting Global Economy · International Commercial and Investment Arbitration · Cross-Border Investment Structuring and Tax · Regulatory Compliance: Sanctions, AML, and Extraterritoriality · Corporate Governance and ESG Accountability · Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Beyond Arbitration · Investing in Emerging Markets: Risk, Regulation, and Returns · African Regulatory Frameworks and the AfCFTA Era

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 1 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Morocco

As the host nation, MAR serves as a key example of a country at the crossroads of international commerce, offering insights into regional legal practices and arbitration frameworks.

Role in topic

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

International Business Law in a Fragmenting Global Economy

Key players

International Commercial and Investment Arbitration

Key players

Cross-Border Investment Structuring and Tax

Key players

Regulatory Compliance: Sanctions, AML, and Extraterritoriality

Key players

Corporate Governance and ESG Accountability

Key players

Cross-Border Dispute Resolution Beyond Arbitration

Key players

Investing in Emerging Markets: Risk, Regulation, and Returns

Key players

African Regulatory Frameworks and the AfCFTA Era

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for AIJA Marrakesh 2027 – Crossroads of Commerce: International Business Law and Arbitration in a Globalized Economy.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Bhagwant Mann Launches Punjab Campaign Summit

Punjab Politics

Adani's Guna Plant Boosts MP's Gati-Shakti

Macron's Kenya Summit: France's Africa Reset

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses