ICC recommendations to safeguard freedom of investment

Cross-border investment and openness of markets to receive such investment are essential to sustaining prosperity in developed and developing countries. This has been demonstrated in various studies by the World Bank and other international organizations. The benefits of foreign investment and open investment regimes have also been recognized by governments and enshrined in various intergovernmental instruments such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises.

In the past few years, there has been a sharp increase of cross-border investment worldwide.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the total value of global foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows soared in 2006 to reach US $1,306 billion, an increase of 38% compared to the previous year. This growth was fuelled in large part by cross-border mergers and acquisition;

ICC recommendations

In light of the above, ICC makes the following recommendations to governments:

• to act in ways that keeps doors open to foreign investment and to recommit to open investment in order to preserve and protect what they have already reaped in the way of benefits from international investment;
• to observe, in their investment policies, the principles of non-discrimination, proportionality, transparency, predictability, and accountability and to avoid unnecessary restrictions to international investment, including for national security reasons and by SWFs; and
• to increase multilateral cooperation among countries in intergovernmental fora, including the private sector, to promote an open and efficient international investment environment and the removal of remaining barriers to foreign investment.