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 26th 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)
