Latin American Contributions to the Global Investment Regime

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

The global investment regime faces structural challenges, which range from the increasing discomfort about the actual effects of international investment agreements in terms of promoting foreign direct investment or reducing policy and regulatory space, to growing exposure to Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). In response to such challenges, several countries currently undergo a process of revising its investment agreements to diminish their impact on the home country’s interest to regulate in the public interest and to create alternatives to ISDS. This panel explores Latin American responses to challenges posed by the global investment regime and the role of law in advancing development in the region. We take the example of recent changes in investment law and policy in Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, and Ecuador. While we look at individual countries initiatives, we are ultimately concerned with the Latin American contribution to the global investment regime. The panel asks presenters to address the following set of questions: What are the main features of your country’s investment regulation? What are the drivers of change in your country’s recent development in investment law and policy? Do you think your country’s recent developments in investment law are aligned with changes in other countries in Latin America? Can the initiatives on recent investment regulation in Latin America be considered an alternative to the existing international investment agreements? How do you qualify the contribution of Latin America to the contemporary global investment regime?

Sub Track

• International Relations

Chair

• Fabio C Morosini, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Individual Presentations

• The Brazilian Agreement on Cooperation and Facilitation of Investments (ACFI): A new formula for international investment agreements? - Michelle R Sanchez-Badin; Fabio C Morosini, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

• Latin America Strikes Back: Regional alternatives to foreign investment governance - Nicolás M Perrone, Universidad Externado de Colombia

• The successful performance of Peru before ICSID Tribunals: Would it last with its new treaties? - Victor Saco

• New Developments in the International Investment Regime: the case of Costa Rica - Carolina Palma

Discussant

• Rodrigo Polanco Lazo, University of Chile, World Trade Institute