The Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIIG) for the Islands of Guadeloupe, leader of the OHADAC project, organized the Transitions Forum - For a Sustainable Caribbean, which took place online on September 21 and 22. The forum was held in partnership with the following organizations: L'Effet Papillon, Convergences, DEAL Guadeloupe, Comité 21 and French Tech Guadeloupe.

The forum was an opportunity to provide a virtual space for dialogue and exchange between the actors and organizations working for sustainable, inclusive development in the Caribbean via a series of workshops, round tables, stands and masterclasses.

Marie-Camille Pitton, Secretary General of the CARO Centre, was invited on the second day to host the masterclass: Presentation on the CARO Arbitration and Mediation Centre to introduce the various services accessible since September 27, 2021.

Marie-Camille Pitton's talk highlighted how the services provided by the CARO Centre will help implement innovative sustainable development projects in the region.

She started by presenting the project's European and Caribbean partners, as well as outlining the genesis of the OHADAC project. The scheme was inspired by the OHADA project (Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law in Sub-Saharan Africa) which, with its worldwide success, was the source of inspiration for OHADAC and the ACP Legal association in 2007.

Marie-Camille Pitton contextualized the challenges encountered in the Caribbean basin: the problem of isolation, the existence of a potentially very significant market, the development of ambitious projects, legal and linguistic constraints, etc. At the same time, she highlighted the difficulties faced by companies keen to develop their commercial activities in this area (different laws and regulations plus existing legal uncertainties).

Indeed, companies committing to the Caribbean zone generally find themselves facing major legal challenges, the most notable being the risk that co-contractors fail to comply with contractual commitments, as well as - more broadly - the problems of legal security.

Marie-Camille Pitton then introduced the various services offered by the CARO Centre, underlining the differences between mediation and arbitration, and the respective advantages of the two techniques. The collaborative services offered by the CARO Centre (facilitation and expertise) were also presented, since they aim to help secure the commercial development of companies in the region and can be used in the context of projects leading to sustainable growth for the region.

The role of the CARO Centre in this context was then explained based on the procedural regulations drafted for each of the services on offer, together with the scales guaranteeing cost control and predictability.

Last of all, the masterclass was also an opportunity to present OHADAC's regulations concerning natural disasters (OHADAC Post-Natural Disasters Mediation Regulations), which were drafted to include the environmental challenges and specificities unique to the region.

Marie-Camille Pitton explained how the Centre aims to be part of a more global challenge, stressing the positive impact of its future actions on sustainable development indicators.

The masterclass was used to exchange views with economic players and entrepreneurs (in tourism, waste management and electric mobility), who pooled their experiences and shared difficulties in the context of their international development in the Caribbean.

For more information, you are invited to send a message to the following address: secretariat@carohadac.org.