A Fabulous Discovery: The Arbitration Offer under the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Agreement Related to Investment

Concluded under the auspices of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the 1981 OIC Agreement on Investment has not attracted the attention of investment specialists or arbitration practitioners. However, this Agreement is the first multilateral agreement on investment that provides for an offer to arbitrate investment disputes. The purpose of this article is to analysis the investor-state arbitration provision provided in Article 17 of the OIC Agreement. The author demonstrates that the OIC Agreement provides for an arbitration offer to settle state-investor disputes by arbitration and this offer is operational until the establishment of a special organ to settle these disputes. A recent arbitral decision confirmed this conclusion. The arbitration offer under the OIC Agreement is a fabulous discovery that will open a new perspective to arbitration and to investment in the Islamic world.