Martina Polasek is the Secretary-General of the (ICSID). She heads a diverse team of over 70 legal, finance, and information technology specialists at the world’s leading institution for resolving international investment disputes.
ICSID was established by the World Bank to encourage foreign investment by providing an impartial facility to resolve grievances between foreign investors and host states. By offering a variety of procedures to settle investment disputes—including arbitration, conciliation, mediation, and fact-finding—ICSID ensures that parties have a fair and efficient process that is tailored to their needs.
With over 20-years of experience at ICSID—first as Senior Legal Counsel, and subsequently as Deputy Secretary-General—Martina has had a role in establishing ICSID as the premiere institution for investor-state dispute settlement. ICSID’s membership and caseload has increased substantially, demonstrating the value that states and investors place in its services. She has been a key contributor to updating ICSID’s rules of procedure, including the recent introduction of new rules for mediation and expedited arbitration. She has also been engaged in the major international forums that are focused on the reform of investor-state dispute settlement, including current deliberations at the United Nations.
Her priorities as Secretary-General are focused on maintaining ICSID’s world-class service standards for case management, enhancing cost efficiency and accessibility, strengthening ICSID ‘s network of strategic partnerships, and engaging with stakeholders.
As a Vice-President of the World Bank Group, Martina also works with the WBG’s senior management team to ensure the five institutions of the Bank—IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, and ICSID—work in concert to achieve the WBG’s mission of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity on a livable planet.
A dual Czech and Swedish citizen, she is fluent in Czech, Swedish, French, and English.