The team leading the OHADAC project is pleased to announce that an article on the OHADAC Regional Arbitration Centre (CARO Centre) was published in the September 2021 edition of the magazine Inter-Entreprises (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana). The Centre, which has launched its services on 27 September 2021, benefits from European Union development funds from the Interreg V Caribbean programme.

The Inter-Entreprises article takes the form of an interview with Solène Balaguette, an expert lawyer at the CARO Centre specializing in international business law. Originally from Guadeloupe, Balaguette studied on the island and mainland France as well as in the United States. She took part in the first training programme in international arbitration that was held in Guadeloupe in October 2019. Balaguette has been working under the supervision of Marie-Camille Pitton, Secretary-General of the CARO Centre, from early 2021 on implementing the operational phase of the Centre and its services.

The article first reviews the genesis of the OHADAC project and the institutions that have supported it, including the Chamber of Commerce of the Islands of Guadeloupe, the project leader, and the ACP Legal association, which has designed and implemented the OHADAC project since 2007.

The article goes on to provide an overview of the objectives pursued by the CARO Centre:

• To consolidate and secure trade in the region through the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods.
• To prevent and resolve trade conflicts by offering affordable services to all professionals and economic players in the Caribbean region.

Solène Balaguette then presented two of the services proposed by the CARO Centre for resolving disputes in the region: arbitration, which is used to obtain an enforceable award in over 156 countries; and mediation, used to re-establish dialogue between parties to a commercial contract and to find an agreement to overcome the dispute. Balaguette underlined the importance of the CARO network, consisting of business people and experts who work together with the Centre to provide entrepreneurs with local, regional and international solutions.

The article continues with details about the two other services offered by the CARO Centre, which aim to support entrepreneurs and professionals from the economic world throughout the life-cycle of their projects: facilitation, during the negotiation phase; and expert assessment, a crucial tool for economic prospecting in the region.

Last of all, the article mentions the team behind the CARO Centre, the members of its Board of directors, and the countries in the OHADAC zone. It also provides additional information about the different types of services offered by the Centre.

For any questions, please contact the CARO Centre on the following address: secretariat@carohadac.org.