Professor Ngo is an international arbitrator, academic and arbitration specialist for more than two decades. He has been with Aquinas Law Alliance since its founding in 2016.
As an experienced practitioner, his professional and academic activities focus on Southeast Asia, East Asia and South Asia, the three key global economic growth regions. He has been consulted by both the private and public sectors on arbitration-related matters. He has also been consulted on potential investor-state arbitration, evaluating cases against and for the state party. Steve also previously held independent expert and advisor roles on arbitration and dispute resolution matters for a Southeast Asian government body concerning the mining & energy sector.
Notable media recognitions include:
“Prof Ngo is a Singaporean arbitration practitioner with wide experience in China, India, Indonesia and the wider South-east Asian region.” — The Straits Times, Singapore
“…widely known in the region, both academically and through his work as an arbitrator.”
— Commercial Dispute Resolution (CDR)
Prof Ngo is a prolific speaker and lecturer on international arbitration and ADR. Among others, he has spoken at the Malaysian Bar Council, Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague, the Advocate Association of Sarawak, the Indonesian Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources (for several consecutive years as lead trainer on arbitration), the Indonesia Investment Coordination Board (now known as the Ministry of Investment and Downstream Industry), Taipei Bar Association, Guangxi Lawyers’ Association, Persatuan Advokat Indonesia and many others. In 2022, alongside the then Honourable Justice KM Joseph of the Supreme Court of India and Justice (Retired) Kurian Joseph (former judge of the Supreme Court of India), he was a keynote speaker at an ADR conference in Kerala.
Over the years, he has been consulted on arbitration and ADR, including providing his expert views on arbitration-related reform initiatives, e.g. in June 2023, he appeared before the Expert Committee to Examine the Working of the Arbitration Law, India, chaired by former Secretary General of Lok Sabha Parliament of India Dr TK Viswanathan, to present his views about arbitration sector reforms and current trends.
He has authored numerous works on arbitration and international dispute resolution in prominent and influential publications, peer-reviewed journals, and book chapters, including a book on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration written in the Indonesian language (“Arbitrase Komersial Internasional – Model Law UNCITRAL Komentar, Petunjuk dan Pedoman”, Rajawali Pers). The Indonesian Advocates Association/Persatuan Advokat Indonesia (PERADIN), the oldest bar association in Indonesia, bestowed upon him an honorary membership in recognition of his contributions to international arbitration law and practice in Indonesia.
The Honourable Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury (former President of the United Kingdom Supreme Court and current International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court, Supreme Court of Singapore), in the SIArb 2021 annual lecture, cited one of his published articles on sanctions in international arbitration (the lecture was subsequently published in the Singapore Arbitration Journal, May 2022, Vol. 1).
The Honourable Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury (former President of the United Kingdom Supreme Court and current International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court, Supreme Court of Singapore), in the SIArb 2021 annual lecture, cited one of his published articles on sanctions in international arbitration (the lecture was subsequently published in the Singapore Arbitration Journal, May 2022, Vol. 1).
He held many academic appointments among others, Distinguished Professor (Honorary) of the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala; Honorary Professor, National Law University Delhi; Honorary Professor National Law University, Odisha; Honorary Professor, National Law University, Tripura; Honorary Professor, National University of Management, Phnom Penh; Adjunct Professor, Guangxi University School of Law; part-time Professor, Changzhou University, Shi Liang School of Law; Senior Visiting Fellow, Tongji Intellectual Property & Competition Law Research Center, Tongji University, School of Law.
Highlights of Professor Ngo’s notable arbitration and dispute resolution work include:
- Advising and assisting the senior management of a private party in evaluating and preparing for a multi-billion dollar claim against a State party in an ISDS arbitration (ICSID arbitration)
- Part of the AQLA team in a rare Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague administered arbitration between two non-state parties; representing the claimant, purportedly the largest producer of edible mushrooms in China.
- Advising and assisting a government legal team in defending a highly contentious and sensitive claim via arbitration against the State party.
- Assisting a Southeast Asian private broadcasting company in the negotiation with an East Asian conglomerate in a potential breach of service contract over satellite services, which would otherwise be referred to arbitration in Singapore.
- Assisting a leading Chinese vaccine manufacturer in a potential arbitration against it by a South Asian medical company over a sale and purchase dispute.
- Co-led the arbitration team successfully claimed against a European company in a complex and difficult arbitration of over USD 100 million spanning different jurisdictions and involving a stringent industry regulatory framework, valuation and licensing. The arbitration was conducted under unprecedented, challenging conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Part of the arbitration team in a contentious and procedurally difficult arbitration involving a highly stringent food industry.
Appointments, Memberships and Professional affiliations
- Founding President of Beihai Asia International Arbitration Centre, Singapore
- Senior Consultant, IndoChine Counsel, Vietnam
- Co-Vice Chairmen, Asean Legal Alliance; Arbitration & ADR Practice Group Chair
- Advisory Board Member, Sarawak Institute of Arbitration and ADR
- Academic Director, London School of Arbitration & Dispute Resolution, London
- Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK
- Advisory Board Member of the Centre of Alternative Dispute Resolution, National Law University, Delhi
- Advisory Board Member of Gujarat International Maritime Arbitration Centre (GIMAC)
- Council Member of the Hong Kong International Mediation Centre
- Common Room Member of Green Templeton College, University of Oxford
- Green Templeton College, Regional Alumni Group Chairperson (Singapore)
- Editorial Advisory Board of National Law University Tripura, Journal of Law and Policy
- Board of Advisors, Centre for Alternate Dispute Resolution at Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University
- Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, United Kingdom
- Honorary Member of Persatuan Advokat Indonesia (Indonesian Advocate Association)
- Formerly Member of AAA-ICDR Asia Advisory Board (American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Asia Advisory Board)
- Formerly, Adviser/Foreign Representative, Shanghai Arbitration Court of International Shipping, Shanghai Arbitration Commission.
Expertise:
- International Arbitration
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
