the new generation of investment policies for...

for

Hosted by International Institute

for Trade and Development

In cooperation with the International Institute for

Sustainable Development

THE NEW GENERATION OF INVESTMENT POLICIES FOR

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

UNCTAD Regional training course forSouth East Asia

Bangkok, 27-31 May 2013

Preliminary programme and logistics note

Regional training workshop for South East Asia:

New Generation of Investment Policy for Sustainable Development Novotel Siam square Bangkok, 27-31 May 2013

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A. Background information: development

context The recognition of the central contribution made by private investment – including foreign direct investment (FDI) – to economic growth and development, has spurred a rethink and subsequent overhaul of national and international investment policy. Governments, notably in the developing world, aim to proactively harness these policies to achieve optimal growth outcomes. In line with current thinking, this growth aspires to be inclusive and supportive of sustainable development objectives. Significant efforts have already been made by governments in this area, frequently with the support of the international development community through new investment policy frameworks, model international investment treaties and technical assistance Striving to make a constructive contribution to this unfolding process, UNCTAD embarked on a systemic analysis of the universe of national and international policies through the lens of today's key investment policy challenges. This preparatory work identified key investment policy challenges: National policy

� Integrating investment policy in development strategy � Incorporating sustainable development objectives in investment policy � Ensuring investment policy relevance and effectiveness

International policy

� Strengthening the development dimension of international investment agreements (IIAs)

� Balancing rights and obligations of States and investors � Managing the systemic complexity of the IIA regime

UNCTAD's work culminated in the development of the Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD) in 2012. The framework is designed as a tool for policymakers to constructively engage with modern-day investment challenges. It aims to practically link investment policies and broader economic and sustainable development goals by offering policy options from which governments can handpick a suite of instruments appropriate for their unique national circumstances. UNCTAD also has available a broad spectrum of additional resources for capacity-building and technical



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assistance to complement the IPFSD policy toolkit, should governments require further guidance. The UNCTAD Secretariat has for many years organized national and regional capacity-building activities in the area of national and international investment policymaking. As part of these activities, and following the publication of the IPFSD, a new series of training courses has been launched under the banner A New Generation of Investment Policies for Sustainable Development. The course is essentially aimed at operationalizing the IPFSD. The course commences with an overview of the IPFSD as a tool offering concrete options to leverage national and international investment policy for sustainable development and inclusive growth. The relevance of the policy framework is contextualized through a presentation of the investment policy-related challenges specific to the region. Module II features and discusses key concepts related to foreign direct investment (FDI) embedded in international investment agreements (IIAs) and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) that have direct impact on sustainability and development. Module III focuses then on the national dimension of investment related policies, how they are linked to the international dimension and the imperative of policy coherence at all levels while aligned with sustainable development goals. The course will practically guide participants how to strengthen the development dimension of national policies and IIAs, through the use of IPFSD's goal-precise policy options. In the IIA context, course participants will be sensitized to the need for a more appropriate balance between investor rights and obligations, and the inclusion of corporate social responsibility principles in future treaties. Participants will engage with strategies to safeguard policy space and facilitate greater coherence between investment and other public policies such as those addressing labor, health and environmental issues. Presentations will be complemented by case studies, group discussion and exercises, with the aim to make this an interactive, practical and stimulating experience for participants.



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B. Preliminary programme Day1 Cezanne-Renoir room 4

th floor

Monday 27 May

10:00 - 12:00

12.00 - 13.30

Setting the pace: registration and informal meeting for introduction of the training programme and individual presentations of participants and facilitators.

Lunch break

13:30 - 14:00 Opening Ceremony and welcome addresses:

� High level national and regional representatives (ITD)

� Ms. Natalia Guerra de Arias , Senior Capacity-building Coordinator, Investment

Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD), UNCTAD

� Ms. Nathalie Bernasconi, Program Leader and Senior International Lawyer, Head

Investment Programme, International Institute for Sustainable Development

(IISD)

14:00 - 15:00

Module I: Towards a New Generation of Investment Policies for


World Investment Report 2012: Towards a New Generation of Investment Policies for


Ms. Natalia Guerra de Arias, UNCTAD

Q&As

Coffee-break (15:00 - 15:30)

15:30 - 17:00 Investment policy issues in South East Asia

Moderator: Dr. Watcharas Leelawath, Deputy Executive Director,

International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD)

Panelists:

� Ms. Nathalie Bernasconi, IISD

� Mr. Chokedee Kaewsang , Deputy Secretary General, Board of Investment of

Thailand

� Ms. Natalia Guerra de Arias, UNCTAD

Discussant: Ms. Marit NILSES , Economic Affairs Officer, United Nations Economic and

Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)



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Day 2

Baudelaire room, B 1 Tuesday 28 May

Module II: International Dimension of Investment Policies Tuesday 28 May

09:00 - 10:00

Global and Regional trends of the International Investment Agreements (IIAs)


Q&As

10:00 - 11:00

Scope and definition of Investment and Investor

Ms. Nathalie Bernasconi, Program leader and senior international lawyer, IISD

Q&As

Coffee break (11:00 – 11:30)

11:30 - 12:30 Expropriation

Mr. Jonathan Bonnitcha, London School of Economics & IISD consultant

Q&A

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch break

13:30 - 15:00

15:30 - 17:00

18:30 - 22.00

National and Most Favoured Nation Treatment, including pre-establishment rights

Mr. Nathalie Bernasconi, Program leader and senior international lawyer, IISD

Coffee-break (15.00 - 15:30)

Minimum standard of treatment and Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET)

Mr. Jonathan Bonnitcha, London School of Economics and IISD consultant

Q&As

Reception Dinner Baudelaire room, B 1



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Day 3 Cezanne-Renoir room

Module II: International Dimension of Investment Policies (cont.) Wednesday 29 May

09:00 - 9:30

Investor-State dispute settlement: global trends and developments


Q&As

9:00 - 10:30

Investor-State dispute settlement: the mechanisms

Mr. Jonathan Bonnitcha, London School of Economics & IISD Consultant

Q&As

Coffee-break (10:30 – 11:00)

11:00 - 12:30

Challenges for developing countries facing disputes

Nathalie Bernasconi, , Program leader and senior international lawyer, IISD

Briefing by participant

Ms. Sigy Vaidhyan, India

Short case studies and discussion

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch break

Day 3 pm

13:30 - 16:00

Module III: National dimension of Investment Policies

Recent trends in national investment policymaking

Ms. Natalia Guerra de Arias & Milasoa Chérel-Robson, UNCTAD

Q&As

Coffee-break (14:30 - 15:00)

15:30 - 17:00

Briefing by participants on their national experience: Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia,

and Thailand - Thematic discussion facilitated by UNCTAD (see section C for details)

Principles for Responsible Agriculture Investment (PRAI)

Ms. Milasoa Chérel-Robson, Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD

Thematic discussion facilitated by UNCTAD (see section C for details)



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Day 4 Module III: National dimension of Investment Policies (cont.) Thursday 30 May

09:00 - 11:30 Investment policy review and FDI impact analysis: the Investment Policy Review

Framework and impact measurement based on IPFSD

Ms. Milasoa Chérel-Robson, UNCTAD

Q&As

Briefings by participants on their national experience: Philippines, Myanmar,

Singapore, Laos

� Salient features of the legal and regulatory framework for investment

� Estimated impact of FDI on development

11:30 - 12:30

12:30 - 13:30

13:30 - 16:00


Coffee-break (10:30 – 11:00)

Investor targeting for sustainable development, including dispute prevention and

alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Ms. Natalia Guerra, UNCTAD

Q&As

Lunch break

Viet Nam case study: UNCTAD’s comprehensive approach from IPR to implementation

through EMPRETEC and e-Regulations

Ms. Milasoa Chérel-Robson, UNCTAD

Q&As


Coffee-break (14:30 - 15:00)

16:00 - 17:00

Investor targeting for sustainable development, including dispute prevention and

alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. (cont.)

Ms. Natalia Guerra, UNCTAD

Q&As



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Day 5 The way forward

09:00 - 10:30

11:00 - 12:30

Friday 31 May

Issues on the Horizon: Ensuring policy space, investor responsibilities, institutional

reform, IISD

Coffee break (10300 – 11:00)

Wrap up discussion and evaluation of the workshop: How to ensure that investment

policy making at national and international level pursues sustainable development

goals? UNCTAD, ITD and IISD

12:30 - 13:30

13:30 - 14:30

Farewell lunch

Closing ceremony and hand out of participation certificates

C. Information on Thematic discussions

The thematic sessions will be conducted with three objectives in mind. The first objective is to

inform participants of the latest trends in national investment policy-making both at the national

and sectoral levels. The second objective is to offer insights into UNCTAD’s methodologies in

conducting Investment Policy Reviews and investment related capacity-building. The third

objective is to stimulate knowledge sharing among participants with a view to generate new

perspectives that would contribute to the workshop’s value-addition.

To achieve the latter objective, all participants are encouraged to prepare short briefings on their

country experiences (PowerPoint presentations are NOT necessary). The suggested allocation of

topics was done based on the profiles of the countries participating in the workshop. Thematic

questions are also laid out so as to provide alternative guides to discussion.

Recent trends in national investment policymaking Natalia Guerra de Arias and Milasoa Chérel-Robson, UNCTAD

Q&As

Briefings by participants on their national experience: Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Thailand

Thematic discussion facilitated by UNCTAD



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1. Reactions to the country briefings

2. What are the most recent changes in investment policy and what is the expected result in

your view?

3. What elements of the recent trends described during the first presentation did you find

relevant to your country’s circumstances and why?

4. What elements of the country briefings did you find relevant to your country’s circumstances

and why?

Investment policy review and FDI impact analysis: the Investment Policy Review

Framework and impact measurement based on IPFSD Milasoa Chérel-Robson, UNCTAD

Q&As

Briefings by participants on their national experience: Philippines, Myanmar, Singapore and Laos

� Salient features of the legal and regulatory framework for investment

� Estimated impact of FDI on development


1. Reactions to the country briefings

2. In light of some of the key principles listed in the IPFSD, discuss the pros and cons of joint-

ventures between foreign investors and domestic companies and other restrictions to FDI

3. Briefly describe the system for investment related statistical data collection in your country.

To what extent would it allow for the measurement of the impact of investment policies and

if not what challenges would there be?

Principles for Responsible Agriculture Investment (PRAI) Milasoa Chérel-Robson, UNCTAD

Q&As


1. Reactions to PRAI preliminary findings

2. For country recipients of FDI in agriculture: what are the pros and cons of FDI in

agriculture?

3. For country sources of FDI in agriculture: what is the perspective of investors on host



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countries’ investment policies?

Viet Nam case study: UNCTAD’s comprehensive approach from IPR to

implementation through EMPRETEC and e-Regulations Milasoa Chérel-Robson and Natalia Guerra de Arias, UNCTAD

Q&As

Briefing on recent changes to e-regulations by Vietnam


1. Reactions to the country presentation

2. What are the main features of enterprise development in your country?

3. Are there any platforms for public-private dialogue? Describe their roles if any.

4. Discuss the importance of improving transparency in investment related measures?

For the last day discussions, The Way Forward, participants should prepare a brief general

comment indicating what are they taking home as policymaking advice/advocacy or insights that

will enhance their daily performance, together with ideas on follow up ideas, for example, how

the exercise can be somehow replicated by participants at home.

D. Facilitators Bio notes Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder is a senior international lawyer and heads the Investment Program of the International Institute on Sustainable Development (IISD). In this role, she has advised over 20 developing country governments across Africa, Asia and Latin America in relation to bilateral and regional investment treaty negotiations, investor-state contracts, model investment treaties and foreign investment laws. Ms Bernasconi has extensive legal, policy, and training experience in the area of international trade, investment, sustainable development, human rights, international environmental law and arbitration. She previously worked as an attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law in Washington and Geneva, where she also managed the office. For several years Ms Bernasconi worked in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a legal reform project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and for the Australian law firm Phillips Fox. In Switzerland Ms. Bernasconi is admitted to the Bar of Basel and has worked for the Justice Department, Berne, in the Section for International Law.



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Jonathan Bonnitcha is the ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow in International Investment Law at the London School of Economics and a consultant to IISD. He has worked on several investment treaty arbitrations, both in private practice and as a government lawyer, and has also advised governments on the drafting of investment treaties. He has published several articles on foreign investment, most recently an article on the economics of investment treaties in the Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy. He holds a PhD in law from Oxford University as well as undergraduate degrees in both law and economics from the University of Sydney. Milasoa Chérel-Robson is an Economist in the Investment Policy Review Section (IPR) of the Investment and Enterprise Division at UNCTAD. She was previously with the Africa and Least Developed Countries Division and with the Special Unit on Commodities at UNCTAD. Milasoa holds an MA in International Economics and a PhD from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. Natalia Guerra de Arias is a Senior Economic Affairs officer at UNCTAD currently in charge of the capacity-building programme associated with UNCTAD's Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD). She has 20 years of experience in the area of foreign investment promotion, of which 7 with the national investment promotion agency of Venezuela and 13 with UNCTAD. She has advised over 15 Governments and coordinated and delivered training for over 500 government officials. She is an Economist from the Central University of Venezuela with post graduate studies in Government and Public Polices and holds an MSc in Investment Promotion for Economic Development from the Edinburgh Napier University.

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