About 50 experts from 18 countries participate in the international seminar “Reforming the international investment regime.” The workshop takes place on September 28-30 in Johannes Rau International Centre for Education and Exchange. The event is organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy of Belarus and the National Agency of Investment and Privatization.
The main objective of the seminar is to introduce and strengthen the institutional capacity of government and other organizations in the way of improvement of the contracts and legislation in the field of investment initiatives and agreements in an international context, as noted during the interview with BelaPAN, Chief of international investment agreements Section Division on Investment and Enterprise UNCTAD, Elizabeth Tyuerk.
According to Elizabeth Tyuerk, Belarus needs “further improvement and strengthening” of the investment climate. “You should be more proactive in terms of promoting investment regime and it is better to concentrate on the most important and promising sectors for the country. The agreements, which are discussed today, are also of a high importance. We believe that there is a strong need to keep these agreements current” — noted Tyuerk.
According to the organizers of the seminar, in June “World Investment Report — 2015” has been published, in which UNCTAD suggests the ways to reform international investment agreements. According to UNCTAD, it is highly recommended to “guarantee the states to regulate in the public interest in order to make the international investment agreements, which limit the sovereignty of states, provide with public policy space; reform of the mechanisms for the settlement of investment disputes in order to overcome the crisis of legitimacy of the current system; ensure the greater focus of international investment agreements on investment promotion and facilitation of investment procedures.”
Also several other strategies have been suggested to “guarantee responsible investment in order to maximize the positive impact of foreign investment and minimize their negative consequences” and to “ensure greater internal consistency of the system of international investment agreements in order to eliminate gaps and duplications and ensure a coherent legal regime in the investment area.
Source: BelaPAN