Incorporating an investment facilitation agreement within the WTO : A policy response belying its relevance to the WTO and its majority developing\LDC members
Journal article
Islam, M. Rafiqul and Zaman, Khorsed. (2023). Incorporating an investment facilitation agreement within the WTO : A policy response belying its relevance to the WTO and its majority developing\LDC members. International Trade and Business Law Review. pp. 1-32.
Authors | Islam, M. Rafiqul and Zaman, Khorsed |
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Abstract | The adoption of a multilateral agreement on investment facilitation for development under the WTO was proposed at the 2017 Ministerial Conference. This article debunks its relevance to the WTO and its majority developing/LDC Members. The WTO is in a crisis of unilateralism and protectionism, hamstringing its ability to regulate trade affairs. Relying on it for investment facilitation involving multi-tiered decision-making by several national authorities is a far-fetched idea. The peripheral policy approach to investment's developmental role has caused the perennial problem of asymmetric protection for corporate interest. Neither capital-exporting countries, with partisan pro-investment mindset, have the appetite to embrace any developmental role; nor can the capacity-constraint WTO deliver it. The prospective investment facilitation agreement's developmental role is no more than a platitude to appraise opponents. The promise by the WTGO of trade-induced prosperity for all remains elusive in many developing/LDC Members. A WTGO investment facilitation agreement will only accentuate inequality and poverty already created by lopsided trade incomes and the digital divide. |
Keywords | investment; facilitation; agreement; WTGO; developed and developing members; sustainable development |
Year | 2023 |
Journal | International Trade and Business Law Review |
Journal citation | pp. 1-32 |
Publisher | Curtin Law School, Curtin University of Technology |
ISSN | 1836-8573 |
Page range | 1-32 |
Author's accepted manuscript | License All rights reserved File Access Level Controlled |
Output status | In press |
Publication dates | |
Online | 2023 |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 23 Nov 2023 |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/90002/incorporating-an-investment-facilitation-agreement-within-the-wto-a-policy-response-belying-its-relevance-to-the-wto-and-its-majority-developing-ldc-members
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Author's accepted manuscript
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