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Saudis plan to grow crops overseas
13-Jun-2008 FT
Saudi Arabia has unveiled plans to develop large-scale overseas agricultural projects to secure food supplies, revealing that Riyadh is in discussions with Ukraine, Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey and Egypt.
When more is less: The limited impact of foreign investment in the Americas
12-Jun-2008 Americas Program
A comprehensive review of the impact of foreign investment liberalization in Latin America shows that, with some exceptions, foreign investment has fallen far short of stimulating broad-based economic growth and environmental protection in the region, according to a report by the Working Group on Development and Environment in the Americas.
India-Burma BIT approved
5-Jun-2008 PIB
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval to Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with the Government of the Union of Myanmar and ratification thereof.
China’s big push into Africa worries the small island of Mauritius
27-May-2008 IHT
Sitting under a pair of mango trees and sipping coconut water, Toolsy Poorun, 87, said he thought he would live in Terre Rouge forever. But then Chinese investment came to this part of Mauritius.
US official calls for concluding investment treaty with India
23-May-2008 Thaindian News
Daniel Sullivan, assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs, said that concluding a bilateral investment treaty with India is an important priority of the present US administration.
BITs and peace: The connection
22-May-2008
How beneficial are Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) for Contracting states remains a hotly debated issue, threatening to eclipse the success due to misgivings generated largely by the Latin American experience.
India, Brunei to sign bilateral investment agreement
20-May-2008 IRIS
India and Brunei Darussalam will be signing an agreement on bilateral investment and protection and three other MoUs in different areas to further strengthen their bilateral cooperation.
The Commission seeks greater power for European companies’ investing abroad
19-May-2008 Baltic Course
The European Commission is seeking to take more power in regulating deals for the European companies working abroad; first of all in deals concerning protection of investments abroad, a role traditionally undertaken by the EU’s member states in their trade outside the Union-block. Hence, the EU common commercial policy rules might extend to investments, as well.
Investment provisions in Economic Partnership Agreements
15-May-2008
This paper examines the investment provisions of the CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement and their implications for development. The paper also clarifies the link between investment provisions in an EPA and existing bilateral investment treaties. It concludes with recommendations for both review of the investment provisions in the CARIFORUM EPA, and for other ACP states that decide to embark on negotiations on investment with the EU.
Second round of negotiations on CEPA starts in Islamabad today
12-May-2008
The second round of negotiations between Srilanka and Pakistan on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) starts in Islamabad today (Tuesday).
Banished Zimbabwe farmer to sue country
6-May-2008
South African taxpayers may have to pay millions of rands in compensation for the government’s failure to act in Zimbabwe when hundreds of white-owned farms belonging to South Africans were confiscated in 2000.
Bilateral Investment Treaty can spur US-Pakistan economic ties: Negroponte
6-May-2008
A top US diplomat has said the conclusion of a bilateral investment treaty with Pakistan would bolster economic and trade ties between the private sectors of the two countries.
International investment agreements: A survey of environmental, labour and anti-corruption issues
2-May-2008 OECD
This paper surveys the societal dimension of 296 international investment agreements (IIAs) signed by the 30 member countries and of by the 9 non-member countries that participate formally in OECD investment work.
Canada has recently started bilateral investment treaty negotiations with Tanzania, Mongolia, Madagascar, Indonesia and Vietnam
1-May-2008 Trade Lawyers Blog
Canada is becoming more engaged in international treaty negotiation and has recently announced that: Canada and Tanzania; Canada and Mongolia; Canada and Madagascar; Canada and Indonesia; and Canada and Vietnam have agreed to begin negotiations towards a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA).
Venezuela to renegotiate Dutch investment treaty
1-May-2008 Reuters
Venezuela plans to renegotiate a bilateral investment treaty with the Netherlands because oil companies have started "abusing" the agreement, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday.
US favours Nafta-type investment pact with India
28-Apr-2008
The US wants to include labour and environment standards in the proposed bilateral investment agreement with India. While India wants to structure the pact on the lines of similar agreements that it has with other nations, the US wants to structure it on the lines of the investment chapter in the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta).
US trade expert finds fishhooks in FTA
28-Apr-2008 Scoop
While media coverage of the China-NZ Free Trade Agreement has focused almost entirely on the possible dollar gains, scant attention has been paid to the equally valid exposure of New Zealand to compensation claims — should any NZ government be so bold in future as to pass laws or regulations that a foreign investor feels will impact on profitability.
Rudd may give China investment rights
21-Apr-2008
The Rudd government is considering giving cashed-up Chinese companies the same investment rights enjoyed by the US in a bid to revitalise free-trade talks.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): Gulf’s new dynamics
14-Apr-2008 FDI Magazine
Charles Roxborough, who leads management consultancy McKinsey & Company’s global corporate and investment banking practice, estimates that by 2020 sovereign wealth funds, of which some of the richest are located in the Middle East and north Africa (MENA) region, will have invested a staggering $7000bn in capital markets. “They’re reshaping strategies at banks and intermediaries,” he says. He believes that hedge funds, Asian central banks and sovereign wealth funds have tripled their market position since 2000 and now make about 5% of global investments.
New curbs on investment from the South
14-Apr-2008 IPS
Germany’s decision to introduce controls on investments from the South in strategic domestic sectors is yet another indicator of growing protectionism in European and other industrialised countries against the neo-liberal globalisation they once masterminded.