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*Columbia FDI Perspectives*
Perspectives on topical foreign direct investment issues
No. 292 November 30, 2020
Editor-in-Chief: Karl P. Sauvant ([log in to unmask])
Managing Editor: Riccardo Loschi ([log in to unmask])
*The development dimension of an investment facilitation framework*
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* <#m_-6061470806823857092__edn1>
by
Khalil Hamdani** <#m_-6061470806823857092__edn2>
There was apprehension in April 2017 when 14 developing and least-developed
countries proposed a multilateral investment facilitation framework for
development, to be negotiated in the WTO. Some feared that a WTO process
would impose international disciplines, marginalize stakeholders’ input and
neglect the development dimension. Nevertheless, structured discussions
commenced, and the participants now include nearly two-thirds of the WTO
membership.
Investment and trade are two sides of the same coin but also different, and
the respective policies, institutions and cross-border regimes have evolved
in separate ways. From a development perspective, what matters is that the
two contribute to building productive capacity. Investment enlarges trade
capacity. The challenge is to delineate a framework for investment
facilitation to complement trade facilitation, without impinging on other
aspects of investment decision-making, while conforming to the overall
features of the international trading system. Whatever the outcome, the
development dimension should be central to the discussions.
The structured discussions follow in the footsteps of the
consensually-adopted Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which featured
special and differential treatment for developing and least-developed
countries, and technical assistance and support for capacity building.
Potential new features (as reported by IISD[i]
<#m_-6061470806823857092__edn3>) are corporate responsibility, home country
actions in support of host country measures (mentioned by China) and a
future WTO Investment Facilitation Committee for the framework’s
development and cooperation dimensions (proposed by Brazil). Although
development policy is outside the structured discussions, the following
provisions are “development friendly”.
*Special and differential treatment*. The proposed host country measures
relate to regulatory transparency (e.g., publication of information),
streamlining of procedures (e.g., e-documentation) and dispute prevention
(e.g., ombudspersons). There is no one-size-fits-all presumption or set
timeframe, and policy space is respected. Countries decide ways to
implement, suited to their situations (e.g., self-designating provisions
that require capacity building or request additional time as in the TFA).
*Technical assistance*. Implementation is linked to technical assistance
and support for capacity building. Weak implementation may obstruct rather
than facilitate investment. Technical assistance expedites effective
implementation. A future investment facilitation framework could encourage:
- Advisory assistance, ranging from streamlining investment procedures
to appraisals of complex projects or assessments of environmental and
development impacts. The facilitation perspective is to involve
stakeholders in streamlining and assessments.
- Training, delivered with diagnostic toolkits, teaching manuals and
workshops to share experiences. The facilitation perspective is to cull
relevant lessons from investors’ feedback, civil society benchmarks and
peer-to-peer learning with counterparts in comparator countries.
- Institutional support, mainly strengthening investment promotion
agencies. The facilitation perspective is to extend services to aftercare,
the development of linkages and dispute prevention. This benefits local
enterprises, while investment inflows are sustained over time through
investor retention and sequential reinvestment.
*Development priorities*. Technical assistance should be embedded in larger
capacity building and delivered by existing organizations. Although
facilitation is one aspect of the investment process, technical
assistance—available at countries’ requests—should strengthen the overall
investment framework in line with national objectives. UNCTAD, the World
Bank and other agencies (already) provide advice and support on investment
matters. There are also nongovernmental and private-sector actors.
Coordination is desirable—but at the country level, with stakeholder
participation.
*Corporate responsibility*. Investors are expected to advance the
Sustainable Development Goals in their corporate practice and operate in
respect of national regulations and international standards (e.g., the OECD
and ILO guidelines). In the facilitation perspective, corporate
responsibility extends beyond internal operations and encompasses wider
impact on society and environment. Governments, investors and other
stakeholders should cooperate in partnership to design sustainable business
opportunities that reduce the environmental footprint and enhance social
value creation.
*Home country support*. Regulatory transparency also applies to outward
investment measures. Given a tendency of countries to protect their
investors’ interests (as evidenced in bilateral treaties or toward state
enterprises), it is desirable to balance any bias with affirmative home
country support of host country investment-facilitation efforts. Policy
support typically includes insurance, guarantees and promotion services,
which can also nurture development activity and corporate responsibility.
Home countries should make available their support measures and provide
access to relevant information on investors.
The WTO should play a catalytic role once the process advances beyond
plurilateral discussion. In collaboration with other organizations, it
should help countries participate in future negotiations and assess
follow-up technical assistance needs (as it did for the TFA). Preparatory
assistance could commence with the actual framework negotiations. Follow-up
assistance to successful negotiations would benefit from an Investment
Facilitation Facility (analogous to the TFA Facility), which would also be
useful if integrated with WTO’s trade-related technical assistance
activities, thereby enlarging their scope to investment and reinforce
productive capacity building. Additionally, a WTO Committee on Investment
Facilitation should be established for review and appraisal—with
appropriate involvement of stakeholders.
Advancing development ultimately rests on national efforts. An investment
facilitation framework can boost those efforts by engaging investment
stakeholders and trading partners and making the multilateral trading
system more central to sustainable development. All countries should
participate in the structured discussions to ensure that development
provisions are more than hortatory language.
------------------------------
* <#m_-6061470806823857092__ednref1> *The Columbia FDI Perspectives are a
forum for public debate. The views expressed by the author(s) do not
reflect the opinions of CCSI or Columbia University or our partners and
supporters. Columbia FDI Perspectives (ISSN 2158-3579) is a peer-reviewed
series.*
** <#m_-6061470806823857092__ednref2> Khalil Hamdani ([log in to unmask])
is Visiting Professor, Graduate Institute of Development Studies, Lahore
School of Economics. This *Perspective* elaborates the author’s remarks in
webinars organized by the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the German
Development Institute during March-June 2020. The author would like to
thank Valéria Mendes Costa Paranhos, Hamid Mamdouh, Howard Mann, and an
anonymous peer reviewer for their helpful peer reviews.
[i] <#m_-6061470806823857092__ednref3> Sofía Baliño, Martin Dietrich Brauch
and Rashmi Jose, “Investment facilitation: History and the latest
developments in the structured discussions,” Negotiating Brief (Geneva:
IISD, 2020)
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.
*The material in this Perspective may be reprinted if accompanied by the
following acknowledgment: “Khalil Hamdani, ‘The development dimension of an
investment facilitation framework,’ Columbia FDI Perspectives, No. 292,
November 30, 2020. Reprinted with permission from the Columbia Center on
Sustainable Investment (**www.ccsi.columbia.edu*
<https://columbia.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ab15cc1d53&id=b3ad33d909&e=763bcf158c>*).”
A copy should kindly be sent to the Columbia Center on Sustainable
Investment at **[log in to unmask]* <[log in to unmask]>*.*
For further information, including information regarding submission to the
*Perspectives*, please contact: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment,
Riccardo Loschi, [log in to unmask]
*Most recent Columbia FDI Perspectives*
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- No. 291, Rudolf Adlung, Pierre Sauvé and Sherry Stephenson,
‘Investment facilitation and the GATS: Do overlaps matter?,’ November 16,
2020
- No. 290, Roberto Echandi, ‘The blind side of international investment
law and policy: The need for investor-state conflict-management mechanisms
fostering investment retention and expansion,’ November 2, 2020
- No. 289, Maria Adele Carrai, ‘Outward FDI under China’s Belt and Road
Initiative: Between regulation and adaption,’ October 19, 2020
*All previous FDI Perspectives are available at *
*http://ccsi.columbia.edu/publications/columbia-fdi-perspectives/*
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*Other relevant CCSI news and announcements*
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Series
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Chantal Ononaiwu*, Trade Policy & Legal Specialist, Office of Trade
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Vice-President of the European Parliament; and* Dec 7: H.E. Ambassador
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- CCSI announces a *call for papers* for the 2020 edition of
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Law", "An Advisory Centre on International Investment Law: Key Features",
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