36. As noted above, at the hearings on the preliminary objection the Respondent argued that there was no privity of consent as between the Claimant and the Respondent: in particular the Joint Venture Agreement was concluded between the Claimant and MFI, a separate corporate entity distinct from the State of Myanmar and capable of suing and being sued in its own name. Moreover, the Respondent stressed, the Joint Venture Agreement contained its own provision for dispute settlement in terms of Myanmar arbitration. In its view, MFI's role in the present dispute was to be sharply distinguished from that of the Ministry and the FIC.