Investment Facilitation
IISD helps governments shape sustainable investment through informed policy design and capacity building. We empower developing countries in the World Grade Organization (WTO) negotiations on Investment Facilitation for Development, providing analysis and legal expertise to ensure investments contribute to inclusive growth while safeguarding regulatory autonomy.
Crafting well-designed investment rules is pivotal in fostering sustainable investments, particularly when those rules emphasize environmental considerations and local ties and safeguard regulatory space. Ensuring coherence between investment policies across different levels and sustainable development is paramount in this process. By embedding social and environmental factors in investment agreements and policy, IISD's work aims to shape foreign investment policy so it fuels inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
We have engaged, over many years, to empower developing and least developed countries' negotiators, enhancing their technical knowledge and capacity so they can more effectively participate in WTO negotiations on Investment Facilitation for Development. Our impartial and objective analysis helps members to articulate their needs, positions, and priorities within these negotiations. We also draw on the legal expertise of our Investment Policy team to identify and address issues emerging at the convergence of the WTO agreement and international investment treaties.
Analysis
A Closer Look: The Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement
IISD experts Rashmi Jose and Josef Ostřanský explore the elements of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) and how it fits within the broader policy context.
The Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement
With over 100 World Trade Organization members pushing to wrap up negotiations for an Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, what would the actual accord mean for investment governance and sustainable development?
Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement: Why does it matter?
Rashmi Jose provides a state-of-play for the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) and why it matters from the sustainable development perspective.
Content is loading...
Research and publications
The Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement: A reader's guide
A subset of World Trade Organization members has finalized the legal text of an Agreement on Investment Facilitation. This Reader's Guide provides an overview of what's in the agreement.
The Joint Initiative on Investment Facilitation for Development
This stocktaking brief provides an update on the joint initiative negotiations on Investment Facilitation for Development among a group of World Trade Organization (WTO) members. The brief provides updates on how the draft negotiating text has evolved since 2022, as well as an overview of how the process is likely to evolve in the run-up to MC13.
The State of Play for Sustainable Development in the Joint Statement Initiative on Investment Facilitation for Development
This paper examines the ways in which negotiations under the JSI on Investment Facilitation for Development consider sustainable development aspects.
Content is loading...
Recent events
Investment Facilitation for Development: Advancing the priorities of least developed countries and Small Island Developing States
A round table to explore the evolving investment needs of least developed countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), current trends in investment governance, and role of the proposed investment facilitation agreement.
Trade Partners' Retreat
IISD's Trade program brought together its funders to review the team's impact, explore strategic opportunities, address challenges, and plan for the future.
Understanding the WTO Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA)
This webinar aims to help WTO delegates and capital-based delegates to get up to speed on the latest status of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) in the run-up to the WTO MC13.
Content is loading...
Funded by
Latest
You might also be interested in
Digital Trade
IISD supports developing countries in developing strong, sustainable digital trade policies and rules.
Climate Change, the Natural Environment, and the Green Transition
IISD is driving policy change at the intersection of trade, climate change, and the natural environment.
Rethinking International Investment Governance
IISD’s long-running research project, Rethinking International Investment Governance, positions IISD at the forefront of global efforts to reimagine the outdated international investment regime and tailor it to the challenges facing decision-makers today. The project provides original research and new ideas across the main investment instruments: treaties, national laws, and investor-state contracts.
Trade and Sustainability Hub
IISD’s Trade and Sustainability Hub brings stakeholders together to discuss policy issues at the intersection of trade and sustainable development.