1. 1. Working Group on Investment Policies and Promotion: Mitigating Risks and Seeking New Opportunities 19-20 March 2013 Strengthening regional investment frameworks Marie-Estelle Rey Senior Policy Analyst, MENA-OECD Investment Programme
2. 2. Figure 1: Total BITs concluded by MENA countries 2 Source:MENA-OECD Investment Programme / UNCTAD / Kluwer Law International, 2013. 51 31 7 103 6 52 59 51 32 19 62 33 2 49 24 55 38 37 24 20 1 72 1 39 37 38 16 6 43 24 1 17 19 33 28 23 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Total signed BITs Total BITs in force
3. 3. Figure 2: Total intra-MENA BITs 3 Source:MENA-OECD Investment Programme / UNCTAD / Kluwer Law International, 2013. 12 7 1 15 2 11 10 11 5 6 13 7 1 9 2 13 8 11 5 5 0 14 1 8 4 10 2 2 11 6 1 2 1 6 7 5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Intra-MENA signed BITs Intra-MENA BITs in force
4. 4. Main features Active BIT signatories since 1990s Few FTAs with investment chapters Morocco-USA FTA signed in 2006 Oman-USA FTA signed in 2009 Substantive provisions: traditional approach Dispute Settlement: national courts and international arbitration 4
5. 5. Regional investment agreements Arab League: 1980 Investment Agreement 2000 Agreement on the Encouragement and Protection of Investments and Transfer of capitals and Agreement on the Settlement of Investment Disputes (Council of Arab Economic Unity) 2013 Amendment to the Arab Investment Agreement AMU: 1993 Convention on Encouragement and Protection of Investment OIC: 1986 Agreement on Promotion, Protection and Guarantee COMESA: 2007 Common Investment Area 5