REPORT ON The Fifth Annual Forum of Developing Country Investment Negotiators

The report details a forum held in Kampala, Uganda, where negotiators from 40 developing countries discussed the risks of traditional Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and the need for regulatory space to pursue sustainable development. Key discussions focused on the 'African Mining Vision', the dangers of 'land grabbing' in agriculture, and the systemic biases of investor-state arbitration. Participants advocated for a shift toward regional cooperation, the use of 'police powers' exceptions in treaties to protect public interest, and the implementation of domestic laws that prioritize national economic policies over investor demands.

• Traditional international investment treaties are often based on western protection concepts rather than development objectives, which can restrict the ability of developing states to implement pro-development policies.
• Investor-state arbitration is viewed as heavily biased toward investors due to the inability of states to recover legal costs even when they win, and the potential for catastrophic awards that can impact national budgets.
• In Africa, large-scale land acquisitions by foreign investors—often termed 'land grabbing'—have frequently occurred without consulting local communities or respecting women's land rights, hindering rural development.
• The African Mining Vision seeks to move away from the 'Washington consensus' approach, which prioritized foreign investors, toward a framework that ensures equitable participation by local businesses and communities.
• Developing countries are increasingly finding that Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) do not necessarily attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), leading countries like South Africa and Ecuador to review or denounce them.
• To protect regulatory autonomy, negotiators are encouraged to include 'carve-outs' for public interest measures and 'police powers' exceptions in treaties to prevent legitimate health or environmental regulations from being classified as indirect expropriation.

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} }