BITs

2010 midterm congressional elections in the United States: Implications for new U.S. International Investment Agreements

The Republican victories in U.S. congressional elections on 2 November 2010 are widely assumed to have increased the odds that the Obama administration will proceed with new bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) containing investment chapters. But this assumption bear closer examination. The post-election situation is complex.

UNCTAD’s 2010 World Investment Forum: High-level experts discuss investment policies for sustainable development

The 2010 World Investment Forum (WIF), held on 6-9 September 2010, in Xiamen, China, turned UNCTAD into the global gravity center for open, universal, inclusive and high-level international investment discourse and policy formation. Eight events and conferences were attended by more than 1,800 participants from 120 countries and 16 international organisations, among them nine heads of State, four heads of international organisations, 79 ministerial-level officials, and 116 senior business executives.

ITN  |  September 23, 2010

Bilateral Investment Treaties and Preferential Trade Agreements: Is a BIT really better than a lot?

With the often costly and far-reaching implications when investors use Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) to adjudicate claims against developing countries, governments in the developing world need powerful arguments to justify that these treaties are in their national interest. One notable contribution to this debate has recently been put forth by political scientists Jennifer Tobin and Mark Busch, who set out to investigate the link between BITs and preferential trade agreements (PTAs). Using statistical techniques, they analyse annual data on pairs of developing and developed countries between 1960 and 2004 and conclude that BITs “raise the prospects of getting a North-South PTA with all the deeper and reciprocal obligations that these entail.”

ITN  |  July 15, 2009

South African trade department critical of approach taken to BIT-making

By Damon Vis-Dunbar 15 July 2009 A position paper published by the Government of South Africa takes a critical posture towards the country’s bilateral investment treaties (BITs). “Existing international investment […]

ITN  |  June 8, 2009

Norway shelves its draft model bilateral investment treaty

By Damon Vis-Dunbar 8 June 2009 Norway has abandoned a draft model bilateral investment treaty (BIT), following public input that was largely critical. The draft text of the model BIT, […]

ITN  |  June 5, 2009

United States reviews its model bilateral investment treaty

By Damon Vis-Dunbar 5 June 2009 The United States has embarked on a review of its model bilateral investment treaty (BIT). Last updated in 2004, the US closely adheres to […]

ITN  |  April 30, 2009

Do Bilateral Investment Treaties Lead to More Foreign Investment?

By Damon Vis-Dunbar and Henrique Suzy Nikiema 30 April 2009 The global network of over 2600 bilateral investment treaties (BITs) has been built on the basis of promoting foreign direct […]

ITN  |  February 6, 2009

U.S. academics urge the Obama administration to improve the international investment regime

By Damon Vis-Dunbar 6 February 2009 Faculty at Columbia University in New York have called on U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration to address “imperfections” in the international legal regime that […]

ITN  |  December 15, 2008

Se Debaten Méritos de Arbitraje entre Inversor-Estado en Seminario de Arbitraje Internacional auspiciado por Fiscal General ecuatoriano

Por Fernando Cabrera Díaz 9 de Diciembre, 2008 El 1-2 de diciembre Noticias sobre Tratados de Inversión asistió a un seminario de dos días sobre arbitraje internacional en Quito, Ecuador, […]

ITN  |  December 10, 2008

re: Investment Arbitration in Brazil: Yes or No?

As an arbitrator and one who does not have any connection with the Brazilian legal system, I  can more particularly identify with the views of Weiler and de Oliveira. I […]

ITN  |  December 8, 2008

Arbitrajes de Inversión en Brasil: ¿Si o No?

Por Elizabeth Whitsitt y Damon Vis-Dunbar 30 de Noviembre de 2008 En 1991, Brasil inició uno de los programas de privatización más grandes del mundo, vendiendo más de US$100 mil […]

Investment Arbitration in Brazil: Yes or No?

By Elizabeth Whitsitt and Damon Vis-Dunbar30 November 2008 In 1991, Brazil began one of the world’s largest privatization programs, selling more than US$100 billion worth of assets. Seventeen years later […]

ITN  |  November 10, 2008

Forum for developing country investment treaty negotiators held in Marrakech

On 2-4 November 2008, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the South Centre, and the Moroccan Department of Investment held the 2nd Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators in Marrakech, […]

ITN  |  August 25, 2008

Entrevista con Alejandro Faya-Rodríguez, asesor jurídico especial, Ministerio de Economía mexicano

Alejandro Faya-Rodríguez fue Director General Adjunto de Asuntos Internacionales de la Dirección General de Inversión Extranjera del Ministerio de Economía de México hasta marzo pasado. En dicho cargo negoció diez […]

ITN  |  July 28, 2008

An interview with Alejandro Faya-Rodriguez, special legal advisor, Mexican Ministry of Economy

17 July 2008Alejandro Faya-Rodriguez was the Deputy Director-General for International Affairs of the Directorate-General of Foreign Investment at the Mexican Ministry of Economy until last March, where he negotiated ten […]

ITN  |  July 17, 2008

Analysis: Latin America’s new model bilateral investment treaties

By Damon Vis-Dunbar 17 July 2008 For the longest time, bilateral investment treaties were quintessential bureaucrats’ agreements. Terse and technical, these treaties were drafted by a handful of trade officials, […]