THE Council of Ministers passed a sub-decree Friday to establish the country's long-awaited commercial arbitration centre.

Commerce Ministry Secretary of State Mao Thora said the measure's passage would clear the way for the ministry to select arbitrators for the centre and provide them with training by experts from Singapore.

The National Centre for Commercial Arbitration would be used to solve disputes without having to resort to the potentially time-consuming court system, he said.

"The commercial arbitration council will be a private and independent, non-biased body and decisions by the council will be final," he said.

Those seeking to bypass the courts currently use Singapore's arbitration centre.

Mao Thora told the Post this month the Commerce Ministry was receiving help from the Asian Development Bank to set up the centre for launch later this year.