Enlawyer Law Firm at the SCO Economic and Trade Legal Services Forum in Shanghai

The Forum agenda

The Forum brings together the bar and the legal consulting profession, government bodies, arbitral institutions and the business community of the SCO member states. Its purpose is to develop common approaches to the legal framework supporting trade and economic cooperation in the region — from supply chain security and settlement discipline to mechanisms for preventing and resolving commercial disputes.

For Uzbekistan this agenda is a practical one. The country is landlocked and relies on the transit regimes of its neighbours, and a substantial share of its foreign trade turnover is with SCO partners. The quality of the legal work behind a trade transaction — from the choice of governing law to documentary proof of origin — bears directly on the economics of the deal.

Panel session: managing legal risk in commodities and cross-border trade

Ikrom Saipov, Partner at Enlawyer Law Frim, spoke on the panel “Managing legal risk in commodities and cross-border trade: supply chain security, financial settlements and contract management”.

The presentation drew on the experience of the Republic of Uzbekistan and covered the national regulatory framework for foreign trade, the risk-mitigation tools available on the customs administration side, and contract practice across the entire life cycle of a foreign trade agreement.

Topics covered

— Investment appeal of Uzbekistan

— The experience of the Republic of Uzbekistan: supply chain security, financial settlements and contract management

— The national foreign trade regulatory system

— Digitalisation of customs control as a risk mitigation tool

— Supply chain security and origin of goods

— Contract management across the entire life cycle

— Transit, logistics and international coordination

— Prevention and resolution of commercial disputes

— The role of legal advisers

Developing relationships with Chinese law firms

During the Forum, Enlawyer partners held talks with leading law firms of the People’s Republic of China and agreed terms of practical cooperation. This gives the firm’s clients direct access to Chinese counsel when structuring supply, investment and settlement arrangements, and gives Chinese companies entering the Uzbek market support on matters of Uzbek law.

Acknowledgements

Enlawyer Law Firm is grateful to the hosts — the International Legal Training and Cooperation Centre for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (China) and the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law — for the invitation and for organising the Forum, and to the Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Institute for Retraining and Professional Development of Legal Personnel under the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan for arranging the participation of the Uzbek delegation.