The regulatory framework of international investment: the challenge of fragmentation in a changing world economy

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511792496.013

11 - The regulatory framework of international investment: the challenge of fragmentation in a changing world economy

from PART III - ‘Trade and…’ linkages

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2011

Bertram Boie ,

Julien Chaisse and

Philippe Gugler

Edited by

Thomas Cottier and

Panagiotis Delimatsis

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Bertram Boie: Affiliation:
University of Bern, Switzerland
Julien Chaisse: Affiliation:
Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Philippe Gugler: Affiliation:
University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Thomas Cottier: Affiliation:
World Trade Institute
Panagiotis Delimatsis: Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands

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Summary

KEY MESSAGES

∙ International investment regulation is fragmented since this field is multilayered and multifaceted, made in substance of obligations differing in geographical scope and coverage and constituting an intricate web of commitments that partly overlap and partly supplement one another. The increasing importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) makes the current legal situation unsatisfactory.

∙ Multilateral failures to negotiate an investment agreement may rather be considered an indication of the importance of multilateral regulations on investment and of the fact that governments have not yet identified an appropriate negotiating agenda.

∙ Several initiatives have been contemplated such as the Policy Framework for Investment (PFI) proposed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The PFI may contribute to a more coherent international policy framework on investment.

∙ Despite the ongoing globalisation process, FDI (still) seems to have a rather regional dimension instead of a truly global one. FDI flows and multinational enterprises' (MNEs) strategies are regional by nature.

∙ MNEs from emerging markets change the political economy game of negotiating International Investment Arrangements (IIAs) and are increasingly becoming key stakeholders. The presence of MNEs from developing countries, such as Chinese FDI, may also influence the expectations and the attitudes of the civil society towards IIAs.

∙ The rise of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) from emerging countries, such as China, have effects on the political responses (protectionism on the rise), at the national level as well as at the international ones (control of protectionism). […]

Type: Chapter
Information: The Prospects of International Trade Regulation
From Fragmentation to Coherence
, pp. 417 - 451

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511792496.013 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2011

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