2018 Survey on Developing Country Investment Treaty Negotiations

The document summarizes a survey of 72 respondents from 54 developing countries, highlighting a trend toward modernizing investment treaties to close litigation loopholes and align with domestic laws. It reports that 21 countries are renegotiating or terminating existing treaties, and 24 have been subject to treaty-based investment disputes that influenced their policy approach. The survey also tracks the use of model investment treaties and the level of involvement from Parliaments and political leaders in the negotiation process.

• A significant number of developing countries are actively altering their investment treaty frameworks, with 21 countries renegotiating or terminating existing treaties to modernize them, align them with domestic laws, or address risks and loopholes associated with traditional Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) models.
• Investment disputes and threats of arbitration have directly shaped government strategies, with 24 countries reporting that treaty-based disputes impacted their approach to investment treaties, leading in some cases to the denunciation of all BITs or a cessation of new BIT negotiations.
• The survey identifies varying levels of institutional oversight and standardization, noting that while some countries use regional models like the SADC model, others have model treaties that are under review or have been in place for over two decades.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2019). 2018 Survey on Developing Country Investment Treaty Negotiations. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/survey-investment-negotiations-2018-brochure.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. 2018 Survey on Developing Country Investment Treaty Negotiations. 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/survey-investment-negotiations-2018-brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=2018 Survey on Developing Country Investment Treaty Negotiations |date=2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/survey-investment-negotiations-2018-brochure.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment20192018, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{2018 Survey on Developing Country Investment Treaty Negotiations}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/survey-investment-negotiations-2018-brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }