A proposal for an agreement on investment in the framework of the World Trade Organization

by Salem Haghighi, Sanam

International investment has become one of the most important issues on the Post-Uruguay Round Agenda of trade negotiations. The rapid growth of and the critical role in today's global economy played by intemational investment, as well as its essential link to trade flow necessitates a comprehensive study of the possibility of inserting broad investment provisions in the framework of an organization with rrade iiberaiization objccrives, the World l'rade Organ~zation. The inclusion of such rules requires: I) an extensive exarnination of the existing investment-related provisions of the World Trade Organization Agreements, and the evaluation of their utility, followed by the examination of the recent practices of this Organization with respect to investment; 2) tracing the development of intemational negotiations on investment measures, from the Uruguay Round to the recent movement to launch a Multilateral Agreement on Investment. This thesis attempts to assess the ground upon which a proposal for a new agreement on investment in the framework of the World trade Organization could be achieved. L'investissement international est devenu une des questions les plus peoccupantes sur I'agenda posterieur 6 I'Uruguay Round. Lr rapide developpement de lfinvestissement intemational et son r6le critique au sein de lftconomie mondiale, ainsi que son impact sur les flux cornmerciaux, requierent une etude detaillee quant a la possibilite d'introduire de larges clauses relatives aw investissements dam le cadre dune organisation ayant pour objectif de liberaliser le commerce, lfOrganisationMondiale du Commerce. L'insertion de telles regles suppose: 1) une etude dttaillee des clauses preexistentes relatives aus investissements contenues dam les accords de ltOrganisation Mondiale du Commerce, ainsi que l'haluation de leur utilit0, suivie de l'analyse des pratiques recentes de cene organisation a ce sujet; 2) de retracer le developpemcnt des negociations internationales relatives awc rnesures d'investissernents, de ItUruguay Round jusqu'a la recente tentative de creation d'un Accord Multilateral sur l'hvestissement. @ Cette thtse vise a determiner les bases sur lesquelles une proposition pour un nouvel accord relatif a l'investissement pourrait 6tre trouvee dam le cadre de 1'0rpanisation Mondiale du Commerce.