International Investment Agreements

Regional Officials to attend CARICOM Forum on International Investment Agreements

 Investment officials from CARICOM Member States will come together for the CARICOM Forum on International Investment Agreements from 30 September to 2 October 2019 in Barbados. They will examine reform of international investment agreements (IIAs) including investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).

Recognising the importance the Caribbean Community attaches to foreign investment that promotes sustainable development, the Forum seeks to better position CARICOM countries to engage on re-design of the international investment regime in a way that contributes to their sustainable development.

The meeting will provide training and a platform for strategic discussion. Sessions will address the legal framework governing foreign investment, key protections in IIAs and how they are interpreted and the current design of investor-state arbitration and the experiences of CARICOM countries with this form of ISDS. The Forum will also feature a policy briefing on recent IIA reform initiatives, as presented in the 2019 World Investment Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Participants will also conduct a strategy session on reform of IIAs and ISDS.

The event is jointly organized by the CARICOM Secretariat, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), UNCTAD and the Commonwealth Secretariat.