A group of senior trade and investment officials responsible for designing trade-related investment policies and negotiating strategies will meet in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, from 20 to 21 October 2011.
They will review the draft Commonwealth Investment Guide that has been commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat. The participants will also exchange ideas and experiences relating to investment negotiations and related developments occurring within the region.
The genesis of the Guide is the recognition by Commonwealth Heads of Government of the valuable role of foreign direct investment in building and expanding Commonwealth members’ capacity to produce and supply internationally competitive goods and services.
The Guide has been drafted to provide Commonwealth developing members with a ‘menu of option-type’ investment provisions that they can choose from in negotiating bilateral investment treaties, but various provisions may also be suitable for inclusion in economic partnership agreements, investment provisions in preferential trading agreements and other international economic agreements that encompass investment.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Veniana Qalo, a trade adviser at the Secretariat who is managing the project, stated that the proliferation of international and regional investment agreements is posing opportunities and challenges, and that countries need the benefit of expert guidance to manoeuvre through the complexities involved.
“The Commonwealth is committed to assisting its member states, particularly the small, developing and vulnerable ones, to consider development-oriented approaches for negotiating trade-related investment agreements that are in the best interest of their citizens to create jobs, improve livelihoods and reduce poverty,” Ms Qalo said.
A key question our member states have to ask is: how can foreign direct investments generate trade opportunities and support national development objectives?”
During the meeting, representatives from countries and regional trading blocs such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will present and share perspectives, with a view to distilling best practices that will be incorporated in the final Guide.
