“Australia provides a neutral venue to resolve disputes, given its robust legal and professional services infrastructure,” a spokesperson from India’s single major investor, the Adani Group told a delegation in Mumbai and New Delhi.

The delegation included Clayton Utz head of international arbitration and major projects, also the president of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA), Doug Jones, and Chief Justice of NSW, the Hon Tom Bathurst, and Michelle Sindler, CEO of the Australian International Disputes Centre (AIDC).

Jones said the delegation was able to provide a compelling case to attract parties to consider Australia over its major competitors, Singapore and Hong Kong, because of our modest comparative costs and sophisticated legal framework.

“Australia is one of the few countries who have adopted the latest amendments to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, accepted as the world standard for arbitrating international commercial disputes,” he said.

Adani’s spokesperson said Indian parties transacting business with companies based in North Asia, China, North and South America, SE Asia and the Middle East need to agree on a neutral venue for the resolution of their disputes. Australia, he said, provides that neutral venue.

India’s single major investor in Australia, the Adani group plans to expand on its multi-billion dollar investment in the next three years to develop a coal mine and related infrastructure and is also interested in buying a majority stake in a gas company in India as it gears up to expand operations around the globe.

The events, sponsored by the Australian Government and Legal 500 Indian Law Firm, Economics Law Practice, attracted leading corporate executives and legal directors of companies involved in international joint investment and trade from various sectors including commodities, infrastructure and shipping.