Investment Agreements

​On 16 September, more than a 100 policymakers from government, private sector and international and civil society organizations discussed UNCTAD’s "Roadmap for Reform of the International Investment Regime".

​Reform of the International Investment Agreements (IIA) regime returned to the UNCTAD agenda during a three day Expert Meeting in February, with member States and civil society calling for new approaches to drafting and implementing the agreements.

​In 2014, countries concluded one international investment agreement every other week. Investors continue to use investor-State dispute settlement, but the number of new cases does not reach the record high of previous years.

Investment arbitrations against host countries continued to grow rapidly in 2013, reaching the second highest number of new cases in history.

In its third IIA Issues Note for 2013, UNCTAD analyses the rise of international investment agreement (IIA) regionalism, and asks whether this brings consolidation or an additional layer of complexity.

UNCTAD is calling for collective efforts to assess options for reform of the current system of investor-State dispute settlement.

The year 2012 marked a new record, with at least 62 new investment arbitration cases being initiated against host countries - the highest number of known treaty-based disputes ever filed in one year.

​2011 marks a new record with at least 46 new investment arbitration cases initiated against host countries - the highest number of known treaty-based disputes ever filed in one year.