(b) At the moment an objection is received pursuant to this paragraph, the arbitral tribunal shall suspend any action on the merits of the dispute, establish a schedule for the consideration of the objection, which will be compatible with any schedule established for the consideration of any other preliminary matter, and will issue a decision or award on the objection, setting forth the reasons for them.

(c) In deciding on an objection pursuant to this paragraph, the arbitral tribunal shall accept as true the factual allegations presented by the plaintiff in order to support any claim that appears in the notice of arbitration (or any modification thereof} . The arbitral tribunal may also consider any other relevant fact that is not controversial.

(d) The Respondent does not waive any objection with respect to competition or any substantive argument, simply because it has or has not raised an objection under this paragraph, or uses the expedited procedure set forth in paragraph 27.

26. In the event that the defendant so requests, within 45 days of the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, the arbitral tribunal shall decide, expeditiously, on an objection pursuant to paragraph 25 and any objection in the sense that the controversy is not within the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal. The arbitral tribunal shall suspend any action on the merits of the litigation and shall issue, no later than 150 days after the date of the request, a decision or award on said objection, setting forth their basis. However, if a disputing party requests a hearing, the arbitral tribunal may take an additional 30 days to issue the decision or award.

Regardless of whether a hearing has been requested, the arbitral tribunal may, demonstrating an extraordinary reason, delay the issuance of its decision or award for an additional brief period, which may not exceed 30 days.

27. When the arbitral tribunal decides on a defendant's objection in accordance with paragraphs 25 or 26, it may, if justified, grant the defending disputing party reasonable costs and attorney fees incurred in filing the objection. or oppose it. In determining whether such an award is warranted, the arbitral tribunal will consider whether the plaintiff's claim or the defendant's objection were frivolous, and will give the disputing parties a reasonable opportunity to comment.

28. The arbitral tribunal may, after granting each of the disputing parties an opportunity to submit observations, order an interim measure of protection to preserve the rights of a disputing party, or in order to ensure the full exercise of jurisdiction. of the tribunal, including an order to preserve the evidence in the possession or control of a disputing party, or to protect the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal. The arbitral tribunal may not order the embargo, or prevent the application of a measure that is considered a violation. For purposes of this paragraph, an order includes a recommendation.

29. In any arbitration conducted under this Agreement, at the request of any of the disputing parties, the arbitral tribunal, before issuing a decision or award on liability, shall communicate its proposed decision or award to the disputing parties. Within 60 days after communicating said proposed decision or award, the disputing parties may submit written comments to the arbitral tribunal regarding any aspect of their proposed decision or award. The arbitral tribunal shall consider said comments and issue its decision or award no later than 45 days after the expiration of the 60-day period for submitting comments.

Transparency of arbitration proceedings

30. Subject to the obligation to protect confidential information in accordance with paragraphs 32 and 33, the defendant, after receiving the following documents, will make them available to the public:

(a) the notice of arbitration; and

(b) the award.

31. The arbitral tribunal, by mutual agreement of both disputing parties, shall hold hearings open to the public and shall determine, in consultation with the disputing parties, the relevant logistical arrangements. However, any disputing party intending to use information listed as information in a hearing shall so inform the arbitral tribunal. The arbitral tribunal will make the pertinent arrangements to protect the information from its disclosure.

32. Nothing in this Agreement requires the defendant to make protected information available. Any protected information that is submitted to the arbitral tribunal will be protected from disclosure in accordance with the following procedures:

(a) subject to subparagraph (d), neither the disputing parties nor the arbitral tribunal shall disclose any protected information when the disputing party providing the information so clearly designates it in accordance with subparagraph (b);

(b) any disputing party claiming that certain information constitutes protected information will clearly designate it at the time it is submitted to the arbitral tribunal;

(c) a disputing party, at the same time that it presents a document that contains information alleged to be protected information, will present a redacted version of the document that does not contain the information. Only the redacted version may be published if appropriate, and in accordance with article 31; and (d) the arbitral tribunal will decide on any objection of a disputing party in relation to the designation of the alleged information as protected information. If the arbitral tribunal determines that said information was not appropriately designated, the disputing party that submitted the information may:

(i) withdraw all or part of the presentation that contains such information; or

(ii) agree to resubmit complete and redacted documents, with the correct designations in accordance with the determination of the court and subparagraph (c).

In any case, the other disputing party shall, when necessary, resubmit complete and redacted documents, which omit the information withdrawn pursuant to subparagraph (i} by the disputing party that first submits the information or redesigns the information. consistent with the designation made pursuant to subparagraph (ii) of the disputing party that first submitted the information.

Applicable law and experts

33. The arbitral tribunal shall decide the issues in dispute in accordance with this Agreement and with the applicable rules of international law.

34. A decision of the Parties declaring their interpretation of a provision of this Agreement will be binding on an arbitral tribunal, and any decision or award made by the arbitral tribunal must be consistent with that decision.

35. Without prejudice to the appointment of other types of experts when authorized by the applicable arbitration rules, the arbitral tribunal, at the request of a disputing party or on its own initiative unless the disputing parties do not accept it, may appoint one or more experts to report in writing any factual matter related to environmental, health, safety or other scientific matters that a disputing party has raised in a proceeding, according to the terms and conditions agreed by the disputing parties.

Awards

36. The arbitral tribunal will decide the issues by the majority of the votes of all its members. The award of the arbitral tribunal shall be in writing and shall be signed by the members of the arbitral tribunal who have voted for it. Said award shall deal with all matters submitted to the arbitral tribunal, and shall indicate the reasons on which it is based. Any member of the arbitral tribunal may attach his individual opinion to the award, whether he disagrees with the majority or not, or a statement of his dissent. The court, in its final award, will establish its conclusions of law and fact, together with the reasons for its decision. When a tribunal makes an unfavorable final award to the defendant, the tribunal may, provided it does not exceed the plaintiff's claim, grant, separately or in combination, only:

(a} pecuniary damages and the corresponding interests; and

(b) restitution of the property, in which case the award will provide that the defendant may pay pecuniary damages, plus the interest that proceeds instead of the restitution.

37. An arbitral tribunal may also award attorney's fees and costs in accordance with this Agreement and with the applicable arbitration rules.

38. An arbitral tribunal is not authorized to order the payment of punitive damages.

39. The award issued by an arbitral tribunal will be binding only on the disputing parties and only with respect to the specific case.

40. Subject to paragraph 41 and the review procedure applicable to a provisional award, the disputing party shall abide by and comply with the award without delay.

41. A disputing party may not request the enforcement of the final award until:

(a) in the case of a final award rendered in accordance with the ICSID Convention,

(i) 120 days have elapsed from the date the award was made and no disputing party has requested revision or annulment of the award; or

(ii) the review or cancellation procedures have been completed; and

(b} in the case of a final award rendered pursuant to the Rules of the CIAD Complementary Mechanism !, or the other rules selected under paragraph 7:

(i) 90 days have elapsed since the date the award was issued and no disputing party has initiated a procedure to review, revoke or annul it; or

(ii) a court has rejected or admitted a request for review, revocation or annulment of the award and this resolution cannot be appealed.

42. Each Party shall order the enforcement of an award in its territory.

43. The delivery of the notification and other documents to a Party shall be made to the place designated by the Party in Annex 1 of this Agreement.

Article 15. General Exceptions

1. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent the adoption or execution of measures of general application that a Party considers necessary to:

(a) protect public morals or maintain public order;

(b} protect human, animal or plant life and health;

(c) guarantee compliance with laws or regulations, which are not incompatible with the provisions of this Agreement, for the prevention of fraudulent or deceptive practices or to face the effects of a breach of a contract;

(d) guarantee compliance with laws or regulations to protect the privacy of individuals in relation to the treatment and dissemination of personal data and the protection of the confidentiality of individual records and accounts;

(e) guarantee security; and

(f) the protection and conservation of the environment, including all living and non-living natural resources.

2. None of the provisions of this Agreement shall be understood as a commitment by the Parties to protect investments established with capital or assets derived from illegal or fraudulent acts, as determined in accordance with due process of law.

3. Nothing in this Agreement shall apply to non-discriminatory measures of general application adopted by any public entity of any of the Parties in the application of related monetary and credit policies or exchange policies.

Article 16. Essential Security

Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to mean:

(a) compel a Party to provide or give access to information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to its essential security interests; or

(b) prevent a Party from applying measures it deems necessary to protect its essential security interests:

(i) relating to fissile materials or those that serve to manufacture them;

(ii) relating to the supply of services intended directly or indirectly to ensure the supply of the armed forces;

(iii) related to the trafficking of arms, ammunition and war material, and to all trade in other articles and material destined directly or indirectly to ensure the supply of the armed forces;

(iv) applied in times of war or in case of serious international tension; or

c} prevent a Party from taking measures in compliance with its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security

Article 17. Tax Measures

Nothing in this Agreement shall apply to tax measures.

Article 18. Balance of Payments

Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prevent a Party from adopting or maintaining temporary safeguard measures in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Party with respect to payments or transfers and movements of capital:

(a) in case of existence or threat of serious external balance or financial difficulties; or

(b) in cases where, in exceptional circumstances, payments and capital movements cause or threaten to cause serious difficulties for the operation of monetary or exchange policies in the Party in question.

Article 19. Dissemination of Information

Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as imposing on a Party an obligation to provide or give access to confidential information, the disclosure of which may constitute an obstacle to law enforcement or be otherwise contrary to the public interest, or may harm commercial interests. legitimate legal, public or private person.

Article 20. Contact Points

In order to facilitate communications regarding this Agreement, the Parties establish the following contact points:

(a) for Costa Rica: the General Directorate of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Foreign Trade; and

(b) for the United Arab Emirates: the Ministry of Finance, or its successors.

Article 21. Annex and Protocol

The Annex and Protocol to this Agreement constitute an integral part of this Agreement.

Article 22. Amendments

1. The Parties may agree in writing to any modification of this Agreement at any time after its entry into force.

2. Said amendment shall enter into force and shall be an integral part of this Agreement 30 days after receipt of the last written notification from the Parties certifying that they have completed their respective applicable legal processes for its entry into force or on any. other date that the Parties agree.

Article 23. Entry Into Force

This Agreement will enter into force 30 days after receipt of the last written notification from the parties certifying that they have completed their respective applicable legal processes for its entry into force or on any other date that the Parties agree.

Article 24. Duration and Termination

1. This Agreement will remain in force for ten years and thereafter will be deemed to have been automatically extended.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1, this Agreement shall terminate 180 days after the date on which a Party notifies the other Party in writing that it wishes to terminate this Agreement or on any other date that the Parties agree.

3. With respect to investments made before the date on which the termination of this Agreement is effective, the provisions of this Agreement shall remain in force for a period of ten years from the date of its termination.

Article 25. Reservations

This Agreement will not allow unilateral declarations or interpretative reservations.

Article 26. Authentic Texts

The Arabic, English and Spanish texts of this Agreement are equally authentic. In case of divergence between these texts, the English text will prevail.

Conclusion

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorized for the purposes by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement in the English and Spanish languages.

The Arabic text of the Agreement will be signed on a date to be agreed by the Parties.

Done in duplicate in San José, on October 3, 2017.

For the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica

Alexander Mora Delgado

Minister for Foreign Trade

For the Government of United Arab Emirates

Mohammed Sharaf

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Economic and Trade Affairs

Attachments

APPENDIX 1. Notification of documents to a party

Costa Rica:

Notifications and other documents pursuant to Article 14 (Dispute Settlement between an Investor of one Party and the other Party) will be notified in Costa Rica by delivery to:

General Directorate of Foreign Trade

Ministry of Foreign Trade

Plaza Tempo, Escazu,

San Jose Costa Rica

United Arab Emirates:

Notifications and other documents pursuant to Article 14 (Dispute Settlement between an Investor of one Party and the other Party) will be notified in the United Arab Emirates by delivery to:

Ministry of Finance

Department of International Financial Relations

Abu dhabi

United Arab Emirates

Protocol to the agreement between the government of the united arab emirates and the government of the republic of costa rica for the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments

At the time of signing the Agreement between the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement"), the undersigned have further agreed to the The following provisions will be considered an integral part of the Agreement.

With respect to paragraph 2 of Article 1, the Parties agree that a company is indirectly owned by an investor if it owns at least 50% or more of the capital stock and that a company is controlled by an investor if that investor has the power to appoint the majority of its directors or to legally direct its actions.

With respect to paragraph 2 of Article 1, the Parties agree that market participation, market access, expected profits and opportunities for profit are not, by themselves, investments.

With respect to paragraph 2 (e) of Article 1, the Parties agree that no provision of this Agreement shall be understood as a waiver by the Parties of any right or flexibilities regarding intellectual property rights derived from the TRIPS Agreement or any other related agreement with intellectual property rights provided that said intellectual property right is recognized in accordance with the national laws and regulations of the respective Party.

With respect to Article 2, the Parties agree that each Party will fulfill its commitment with respect to this Agreement. However, any breach of a contract cannot be considered a breach of the Agreement.

For greater certainty, with respect to Article 5, the Parties agree that this Article will not be understood or interpreted in a way that modifies the scope of the Agreement.

With respect to paragraph 3 (c) of Article 7, the Parties agree that the list of "legitimate public welfare objectives" in paragraph 3 (c) of Article 7 is not exhaustive.

Done in duplicate in San José, on October 3, 2017, in the Spanish and English languages each. The Arabic text will be signed on a date to be agreed by the Parties. As each text is equally authentic, in case of divergence between these texts, the English text shall prevail.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, duly authorized for the purposes by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.

For the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica

Alexander Mora Delgado

Minister for Foreign Trade

For the Government of the United Arab Emirates

Mohammed Sharaf

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Economic and Trade Affairs