Dear Sir/Madam,
I would like to share with you our updated Investment
Policy Framework for Sustainable Development,
which was officially launched at the Financing for Development Conference
in Addis Ababa.
UNCTAD's Investment Policy Framework provides guidance for policymakers
in the evolution towards a New Generation of investment policies. The Framework
consists of an overarching set of Core Principles for Investment Policymaking
that serve as design criteria for three sets of operational guidelines
or action menus: (i) guidelines for national investment policies, (ii)
guidance for the design and use of international investment agreements
(IIAs), and (iii) an action menu for the promotion of investment in sectors
related to the sustainable development goals.
In the three years since its original launch, the UNCTAD Investment Policy
Framework has served as a reference for many policymakers in formulating
national investment policies and in negotiating investment agreements.
It served as the basis for capacity building on investment policy, especially
through UNCTAD’s technical assistance work (Investment Policy Reviews,
IIA-related advisory services, capacity-building for investment facilitation).
It acted as a point of convergence in international debates on investment
issues, e.g. during UNCTAD's World Investment Forums, IIA Conferences and
other intergovernmental meetings.
New insights gained through policy debates and technical assistance experience,
feedback received from experts, as well as new policymaking priorities
have now accumulated to the point that an update of the Framework is opportune.
The update broadly includes three areas of innovation:
- First, new insights and feedback have been incorporated in both the national
investment policy guidelines and the IIA menu of options. The latter also
reflects ongoing efforts in the international community to reform international
investment governance, discussed in the World
Investment Report 2015.
- Second, developments in international investment policymaking have made
it necessary to elaborate on the liberalization or "pre-establishment"
component in the IIA menu of options.
- Third, the update comes in a year in which the international community
is defining its future sustainable development goals (SDGs), covering such
areas as poverty reduction, food security, health, education and climate
change. In its 2014
World Investment Report, UNCTAD
presented an Action Plan for Investing in SDGs to support this effort.
The updated Framework includes a new section incorporating the six sets
of transformative measures from the Action Plan aimed at promoting investments
with a specific sustainable development orientation.
UNCTAD's Investment Policy Framework will continue to serve as the basis
for technical assistance and for international investment policy discussions.
And it will continue to represent a "living document", open for
feedback through UNCTAD's Investment
Policy Hub.
Best regards,
James Zhan
Director, Investment and Enterprise
Team leader, World Investment Report
UNCTAD
Palais des Nations, Geneva
Tel: +41 22 917 5797
www.unctad.org/diae;
www.unctad.org/wir