wir

Dear Members of the World Investment Network,

It is my pleasure to share with you the ninth Joint UNCTAD-OECD report on G20 members' investment policy measures. The report finds that G20 members have continued to honour their pledge not to introduce new restrictive policies for international investment. However, policymakers should be aware that FDI may not only be limited through formal policy changes, but also through individual administrative decisions and informal public signals that are beyond the scope of this report.

More specifically, the joint report finds that the great majority of investment policy measures went into the direction of eliminating restrictions and facilitating international investment, echoing findings of earlier reports on G-20 investment measures.

During the reporting period running from October 2012 to May 2013 the following measures were adopted:
Nine countries – Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation, South Africa and the United States – amended their investment-specific policies;
Six G20 members concluded four bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and two other international investment agreements (IIAs).

Formal policy changes captured by this report are not the only way in which governments influence – and at times discourage – FDI. Individual administrative decisions with regard to specific foreign investment projects (such as screening and monitoring procedures) and informal public signals may also have a chilling effect on specific investment projects. G20 Leaders should therefore bear in mind that the rather encouraging findings in this report do not mean that the risk of investment protectionism has disappeared.

This joint UNCTAD-OECD Report is published in preparation of the G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg in September 2013. It is part of the WTO-UNCTAD-OECD Report on monitoring trade and investment measures adopted by the G20 members.

                        * * *
In-depth analysis of overall investment policy developments, both at the national and international levels, will be available in UNCTAD's 2013 World Investment Report (WIR), to be launched globally on 26^th June. The report will also present recent global and regional investment trends. The theme of the report is "Global value chains: investment and trade for development".



    James Zhan
    Director
    Investment & Enterprise Division
    United Nations Conference on Trade & Development
    Palais des Nations, Geneva
    Tel: +41 22 9175797
    www.unctad.org/diae
    www.unctad.org/wir (World Investment Reports)