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. 24, pp. 3-32.
AuthorsIslam, M. Rafiqul and Zaman, Khorsed
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.

Keywordsinvestment; facilitation; agreement; WTGO; developed and developing members; sustainable development
Year2023
JournalInternational Trade and Business Law Review
Journal citation24, pp. 3-32
PublisherCurtin Law School, Curtin University of Technology
ISSN1836-8573
Web address (URL)https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/itbla24&i=13
Open accessPublished as non-open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range3-32
Author's accepted manuscript
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All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online2023
Publication process dates
Deposited23 Nov 2023
Additional information

© Robert Cunningham and Authors, 2024.

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