# Hong Kong's IOMed settles second case as the mediation body marks its first year

> The International Organization for Mediation resolved a Malaysia infrastructure dispute on its first anniversary, with Secretary General Teresa Cheng pointing to growing membership and more than a dozen fresh inquiries as proof of concept.

- Source: Pacific Post
- Canonical URL: https://pacificpost.co.uk/article/iomed-hong-kong-second-dispute-first-year
- Author: Pacific Post Staff
- Section: Politics
- Published: 2026-10-20T15:25:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-20T15:25:00.000Z
- Tags: Hong Kong, IOMed, mediation, diplomacy

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The International Organization for Mediation, the Hong Kong-headquartered body set up to resolve disputes between states through mediation rather than litigation, has settled its second case just as it marks one year since its launch.

Secretary General Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah told a reception marking IOMed's first anniversary that the organization had wrapped up an infrastructure dispute involving Malaysia, and was handling a further case while fielding more than a dozen other inquiries. The settlement follows IOMed's first case, a maritime dispute between parties from China and Singapore that was resolved through mediation in early May and produced a written settlement agreement, a result the organization held up as a landmark proof of concept at the time.

IOMed was inaugurated in Hong Kong on October 20, 2025, after participating countries signed the convention establishing it the previous May. It bills itself as the world's first intergovernmental legal body dedicated specifically to resolving international disputes through mediation, positioning itself as an alternative, or a companion, to arbitration and litigation-based venues such as the International Court of Justice.

Its membership has grown steadily over the year. Signatory states have risen to 48 from 37 a year ago, while the smaller group of contracting states, those that have gone further and ratified the founding convention, has more than doubled, from eight to 18, adding countries including Pakistan, Kenya, Myanmar, Cambodia, Nicaragua and Serbia. Members now span Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and Oceania, a spread Cheng has pointed to as evidence the organization is building the kind of broad, cross-regional legitimacy a global mediation body needs.

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Originally published by Pacific Post. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://pacificpost.co.uk/article/iomed-hong-kong-second-dispute-first-year.