Moving the G20’s Investment Agenda Forward

This policy brief argues that investment policies should be a core item on the agenda of the G20 and its Trade and Investment Working Group in particular. Specifically:

• The G20 should continue its important work on international investment policy reform and initiate steps to operationalize the Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking. More specifically, the G20 should initiate a gap and trend analysis of the contents of international investment agreements in light of the Guiding Principles; operationalize the Guiding Principles by drafting annotations; initiate a voluntary peer learning mechanism among G20 countries regarding the use of the Guiding Principles; and invite UNCITRAL and ICSID to report on progress with regard to reforms of procedural rules.
• The G20 should support ongoing WTO discussions on investment facilitation. More specifically, the G20 should stress that a future plurilateral investment facilitation agreement needs to be compatible with the most-favored-nation principle; suggest that investment facilitation discussions aim not only at facilitating more FDI, but sustainable FDI; adopt Guiding Principles for Global Investment Facilitation to provide overall guidance; and encourage the extension of existing aid-for-trade initiatives to investment.

The Think20 (T20) is a network of research institutes and think tanks from the G20 countries. The T20 provides research-based policy advice to the G20, facilitates interaction among its members and the policy community, and communicates with the broader public about issues of global importance.