THE Council of Ministers is expected to approve the country's first commercial arbitration centre later this month.

The arbitration body will rule on disputes between companies, a role that is currently performed by the courts or Singapore's arbitration centre.

Mao Thora, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, said approval would pave the way for the centre's launch later this year. "We are ready to help run this centre in conjunction with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in terms of assisting with human resources and financial support," he said. The ministry had allocated nine people to run the centre, he added.

Nguon Meng Tech, the director general of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the news but said the launch date remained unclear.

"We look forward to seeing this centre established, as that will provide us with a suitable place to resolve commercial disputes," he said, adding that the CCC has cooperated with the European Union to train a number of lawyers that would represent its members.

Lim Chhiv Ho, the president of Attwood Import and Export Co, a spirits and beer distributor, said the sooner the body was set up, the better. She said it ought to have some foreign experts in its first year, before later employing only local staff.

"Sometimes the judgements delivered by the courts are not acceptable to businesspeople," she said. "But at least now we are moving from solutions using weapons to business mediation."