After two days of announcements, speeches and rich discussions, on the afternoon of 22 September 2015, the OHADAC Convention finally drew to a close. After a speech by Marlène Melisse, 4th Vice-President of the Departmental Council of Guadeloupe, Manuel de Jésus Pirez, Director for Legal Affairs at the Ministry for External Relations in Cuba, took the stage, highlighting his government's desire to extend its participation in the OHADAC legal and political adventure and praising Cuban jurists for their involvement in the process.

Dominique Vian, the representative of the UDE-MEDEF of Guadeloupe, highlighted the importance of businesses in Guadeloupe having access to a legal environment that is conducive to trade and pointed out that one of the conditions for this is the harmonization of business law in the Caribbean.

Denis Lesueur, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Loret Group and Vice-President of ACP Legal, praised the major role played by Catherine Sargenti in the progress of the OHADAC process and reminded participants that they were the OHADAC of tomorrow. He took the opportunity to give a heartfelt thank you to all those that had helped make the OHADAC project possible, particularly the President of the Guadeloupe Region Victorin Lurel and the teams of academics and researchers that had helped produced the various texts presented at the convention.

Catherine Sargenti, President of ACP Legal, announced the next stages of the OHADAC process, including the creation of the OHADAC Centre of Arbitration, the signing of cooperative agreements with various partners (the Universidad Externado de Colombia, Universidad del Zulia in Venezuela, Université des Antilles, IGLOBAL, FUNGLODE, etc.) and the technical assistance of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

The convention was then brought to a close by Victorin Lurel, President of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, deputy and former minister of the overseas territories, who referred to the OHADAC as “intelligent business”, explaining that the doubts he had had at the beginning of the adventure had been laid to rest. He praised the tenacity of the main protagonists of this international project and expressed his delight that the city of Pointe-à-Pitre had been chosen as the location of the arbitration center's headquarters. He confirmed that there would be continued support - particularly on a financial level - from the regional institution in the future.

For further information, please contact:

Dr. Jean Alain Penda
Email: japenda@ohadac.com