A recent visit by a high-level FIDIC delegation to Saudi Arabia saw the organisation strengthen its links with the construction sector in the kingdom.
FIDIC president Catherine Karakatsanis and general counsel Daduna Kokhreidze met with Saudi Arabian member association, the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE), to discuss a range of issues and to receive updates on both organisations’ activities. The meeting, on 25 February 2025, which was attended by an SCE delegation including secretary general Abdulmohsen AlMajnouni and assistant secretary general Faisal Al-Yemni (see picture above), also discussed how the SCE and FIDIC might better collaborate going forward.
During the visit to Saudi Arabia, in a separate meeting, FIDIC also signed a cooperation agreement with the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) to promote the highest international standards in construction and engineering and the use of arbitration, mediation, dispute boards and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods.
Under the terms of the three-year agreement, FIDIC and SCCA jointly agreed that access to fair and efficient arbitration, mediation and other forms of ADR methods provides confidence and stability to the local and international business community and pledged to explore opportunities to cooperate together to advance these objectives. It is envisaged that these opportunities would include conferences, webinars, workshops, training events and associated learning opportunities of mutual interest around the ADR agenda.
The agreement was signed by FIDIC president Catherine Karakatsanis and Dr Hamed H. Merah, CEO of the SCCA (see photo above) during the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration 4th International Conference in Riyadh where she spoke during a session on Alternative Dispute Resolution and Risk Management. The conference took place as part of Riyadh International Dispute Resolution Week 2025, a key gathering which attracts a diverse array of international attendees from around the world.
Commenting on the Saudi Arabia visit, FIDIC president Catherine Karakatsanis said: “It was great to be able to meet our member association, the Saudi Council of Engineers and to update each other on our respective organisation’s activities. There is no substitute for face-to-face meetings with our MAs and we took the opportunity to share our experiences of the latest industry developments and discuss how we might work more closely together in the future. It was a very useful session and I know both FIDIC and SCE will benefit from the discussions we had.”
FIDIC’s president also welcomed the cooperation agreement signed with the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration. “I was delighted to sign this important agreement with Dr Hamed H. Merah, CEO of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration, at their conference in Riyadh. International agreements like this one can only enhance the cooperation and engagement that FIDIC has globally and in this case, we look forward to widening awareness of access to fair and efficient arbitration, mediation and other forms of ADR methods in the construction sector in the kingdom.”
