Part I International Investment and the Law, 1 The Nature and Significance of International Investment

The meaning of the term “investment” at its most basic level is the commitment of resources by a physical or legal person to a specific purpose in order to earn a profit or to gain a return. Etymologically, the word invest is derived from the Latin investire, which means “to clothe.”1 An investor is in effect “clothing” an enterprise with capital through the process of investment. In economic terms, investment, a form of savings, is the opposite of consumption. Investment is fundamental to economic growth and to the provision of needed goods and services in any...