Global guiding principles for investment governance: The bumpy road to multilateral investment rules

Sustainable economic growth is essential to improve people’s living standards. International trade and investment are important engines of growth and development. While multilateral rules for trade exist, establishing multilateral rules on investment and linking these rules with trade has been challenging. Paradoxically, global economic governance started on the right foot, with the 1948 Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization (ITO) containing provisions on both trade and investment. In particular, art. 12 used language that still sounds relevant today. It was based on the recognition that a stable, non-discriminatory international trading system could be better achieved through a single set of legally binding multilateral rules. It also referred to the value of common principles “regarding the conduct, practices and treatment of foreign investment”.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Gender Equality

Reduced Inequalities

Partnerships for the Goals