REPORT ON The Fifth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators

This report documents the proceedings of the Fifth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators, held in Kampala, Uganda, from October 17–19, 2011. The event, co-organized by the Government of Uganda, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), and the South Centre, brought together 79 participants from 40 countries to discuss how developing nations can align foreign direct investment (FDI) with sustainable development goals. The forum focused on the risks of existing bilateral investment treaties (BITs), the importance of regulatory space for host states, and regional cooperation in investment policy.

• Developing countries are encouraged to move away from treating investment treaties as mere diplomatic tools and instead design frameworks that protect sovereign interests and national development objectives. There is a noted need for a 'paradigm shift' where countries identify their specific choices for a better future before implementing investment decisions.
• Investor-state arbitration presents significant risks to developing nations, including the potential for 'catastrophic' monetary awards that can deplete national budgets. Issues include the high cost of legal defense even when the state wins, the lack of transparency in some processes, and a trend where arbitrators may expand treaty language to favor investors.
• Many existing Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) are viewed as imbalanced and may actually restrict a state's ability to regulate in the public interest. Specifically, pre-establishment National Treatment (NT) obligations and prohibitions on performance requirements can prevent states from using the same industrial development tools that developed countries historically employed.
• In Africa, the 'Washington consensus' approach to investment led to an increase in the volume of FDI but failed to provide qualitative development benefits. In the mining sector, the African Mining Vision seeks a more equitable framework to ensure mineral wealth leads to poverty reduction and sustainable development, while in agriculture, large-scale land acquisitions have often occurred without benefiting local communities or respecting human rights.
• Several countries are reviewing or terminating their BITs after finding little evidence that such treaties directly increase FDI flows. South Africa conducted a BIT Policy Review Framework, and Ecuador has pursued the denunciation of BITs and the creation of a new constitutional framework to maintain sovereignty over strategic resources like oil and minerals.
• Regional integration efforts are being used to consolidate investment rules. ASEAN is implementing 'Open Regionalism' to balance regional integration with global liberalization. In Africa, there are tripartite initiatives among COMESA, the EAC, and SADC to consolidate complex layers of existing BITs.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2011). REPORT ON The Fifth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/fifth_forum_report_jan_2012.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. REPORT ON The Fifth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators. 2011. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/fifth_forum_report_jan_2012.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=REPORT ON The Fifth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators |date=2011 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/fifth_forum_report_jan_2012.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2011report, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{REPORT ON The Fifth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2011}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/fifth_forum_report_jan_2012.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }