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Dear Members of the WIN,
It is my pleasure to share with you UNCTAD's
IIA Issues Note entitled: "International
investment policymaking in transition: challenges and opportunities of
treaty renewal".
Today, the international investment regime consists of over 3,200 treaties.
This includes more than 2,860 bilateral investment treaties and over 340
"other" international investment agreements (e.g. free trade
agreements, economic partnership agreements or framework agreements with
an investment dimension).
At the same time, the international investment regime poses a series of
systemic, capacity and development challenges. Countries are taking actions
to address these challenges, such as clarifying the meaning of treaty provisions,
replacing older treaties with new ones, and revising or terminating them. Treaty
expiration provides opportunities for such actions.
According to UNCTAD’s analysis, by the end
of 2013, more than 1,300 bilateral investment treaties will be at the stage
where they could be terminated or renegotiated at any time. These account
for 45 percent of the bilateral investment treaties in existence today.
Furthermore, between 2014 and 2018, at least 350 BITs will reach
the end of their initial duration.
Treaty expiration in large numbers makes it possible to address inconsistencies
and overlaps in the multi-faceted and multi-layered investment regime,
and to update it in light of a development paradigm shift. In taking such
actions, countries need to weigh up the pros and cons in view of their
investment climate (and foreign investors’ perception of it), their own
investors abroad, and their overall development strategies.
* **
An 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)