Part I Fundamental Issues, Ch.1 Policy Issues

Subject(s):

Foreign Direct Investment — Standards of treatment — Non-discrimination — Fair and equitable treatment standard — Investor — Full protection and security — Most-favoured-nation treatment (MFN) — Development — Investment ‘in accordance with host state law’ — NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) — UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules

This chapter discusses the actors, ideologies, and major technical questions that contribute to the development of policy in the field of international foreign investment law. The range of actors has become wider than merely the investor and the host country. The home country may have to take on active obligations in relation to the investor and the investment; corporate investors are being subjected to increasing demands for compliance with good corporate citizenship and governance standards, in return for the benefit of investment protection. Civil society groups and NGOs are increasingly active as monitors of corporate behaviour and as lobbyists for more balanced international investment agreements (IIAs) that cover obligations for all the main sets of actors.