Invited by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Professor Chi Manjiao delivered a speech on “New Developments in International Investment Law: An Asian Perspective” in Paris on June 17, 2019 and exchanged ideas with the staff of OECD. The Director of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs and other OECD officials attended the meeting.

Professor Chi discussed new developments in Asian international investment law from multiple perspectives. First, Asia is the most popular region for international investment. In the past decade, with the steady increase in the number of investment agreements concluded, including multilateral trade agreements, significant progress has also been made in investment agreements and policies of some late-developing countries, such as Myanmar and Cambodia. Second, the paradigm shift of some Asian countries in investment treaties is obvious. In particular, the changes in the Indian model investment agreement and its domestic investment policies will have certain impacts on international investment governance in the Asia-Pacific region. Third, the investment treaties and domestic policies of Asian countries still pay insufficient attention to sustainable development, especially the issue of corporate social responsibility, and fail to fully reflect the governance needs in the choice of balance paradigm. Fourth, Asian countries should pay due attention to the potential impact of the recent formulation of the Bangladesh agreement arbitration and the Hague rules on commercial and human rights arbitration on future international investment agreements and policies.

(Photo: Professor Chi and other participants)

After the meeting, Professor Chi also discussed with colleagues from the Investment Division of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs on the reform of the international investment dispute settlement mechanism and the domestic and treaty regulations of corporate social responsibility, and then exchanged ideas on conducting joint research in the future.