Kuala Lumpur-headquartered Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) has appointed Mary Lim Thiam Suan, a recently retired Federal Court of Malaysia judge, as its new director.

Lim’s appointment follows the departure of former director Sundra Rajoo, and comes amid a restructuring of the AIAC, which includes the establishment of a new board of directors and plans for an independent arbitration court.

She will concurrently chair the Protem Committee for AIAC's new Court of Arbitration, a role she took on in early June. The committee includes practitioners and retired judges such as Chan Leng Sun SC and Jern-Fei Ng KC of Singapore’s Duxton Hill Chambers, Kamilah Kasim of Malaysia’s Rahmat Lim & Partners, and Zeyad Khoshaim of Saudi Arabia’s Khoshaim & Associates.

The committee will develop protocols and operational frameworks for the new arbitration court, expected to be established following amendments to Malaysia's Arbitration Act.

AIAC officials said the restructuring aims to strengthen the centre's position as a leading arbitration institution in Asia and globally.