Support for Host Country Governments in the Planning, Preparation for, Negotiation, Implementation, and Monitoring of Large-Scale Investments

Area: Extractive Industries, Human Rights & Development, Land and Agriculture, Land/Extractives Nexus

NegotiationSupport.org: An online negotiation support portal to assist host country governments with planning, negotiating, implementing, and monitoring large-scale investments

For many countries, large-scale projects carried out by foreign investors, for example, in extractive industries, land and agriculture, or infrastructure, are an important means of generating funds to drive economic growth and development. While these deals can be of critical importance, many host country governments lack strong regulatory frameworks, a strategic vision, or the necessary resources to negotiate and implement the deals, limiting their ability to maximize the benefits for their country. In addition, from the investor’s perspective, imbalanced deals can lead to adverse business outcomes, linked to reduced security of titles or concessions, increased prospects for disrupted operations from civil protests and greater risks of revisions of tax and other conditions.

Since 2011, CCSI has worked with partner organizations, including the Humboldt-Viadrina School of Governance, to assess whether and, if so, how the availability of expert support to host country governments for large-scale investment projects could usefully be expanded globally. A background paper assessing the gap between existing sources of support for developing countries in relation to investment projects and the countries’ needs for such support was released in 2012. This formed the basis for a workshop at Columbia University in July 2012, where a wide range of stakeholders confirmed its findings. In particular there was consensus that, in addition to a range of gaps in the types and extent of support available, there was a general lack of knowledge sharing and coordination among government departments, donors and the support providers assisting governments with large-scale investment projects. This includes a lack of awareness of, and access to, useful tools and resources, a comprehensive compilation of which could also facilitate coordination among support providers as well as further analyses on where additional resources may be needed.

In light of these findings, and supported by seed funding from the Australian Government, the U.S. State Department, and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), CCSI created a Negotiation Support Portal designed to improve the accessibility of technical assistance and of useful tools and resources to assist host governments planning, preparing for, negotiating, monitoring, and implementing large-scale investments in the extractive industries, land and agriculture, and infrastructure sectors, and to facilitate coordination among support providers and host governments. The Portal’s design was informed by a working group of senior representatives of the major support providers, government officials, and other stakeholders.

The portal is available in English, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, and includes:

A roadmap that lays out the investment process, with a brief description of what should happen at each stage of the investment, featured tools and resources, and links to providers that provide support to host governments at each stage;
A searchable database of major support providers that provide technical assistance on a not-for-profit basis to host governments in the investment process. The database includes detailed information about each provider including the types of support provided, the sector and stage at which the support is provided, the general response time for a request for assistance, and the fee arrangements for the types of support on offer. A hard copy of a matrix of major negotiation support providers (updated June 2014) is also available;
A repository of tools & resources to better inform and guide governments at each stage of the investment; and
A list of short term trainings and professional development courses aimed at government officials and policy makers in relation to one or more stages of the investment process in the extractive industries, land & agriculture, or infrastructure sectors.

For any assistance in locating a tool or resource, or in identifying Support Providers, please contact us at ccsi@law.columbia.edu.

The CCSI also welcomes all feedback, comments, suggestions, and updates to the Portal at ccsi@law.columbia.edu.