WTO Members 'Made Substantial Progress' on Investment Facilitation Agreement, WTO Says
Parties negotiating an agreement on investment facilitation for development (IFD) at the World Trade Organization "made substantial progress" toward settling remaining issues and achieving a single text, the WTO said of the Nov. 1-3 meetings. The participants showed support for the new and streamlined text following the Nov. 3 open-ended plenary meeting. South Korean Ambassador Jung Sung Park, the negotiations' co-coordinator, said four important parts of the text were moved from proposals in the annex to the body of the agreement.
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"The four provisions concern the definition of 'Authorization', 'Supplier Development Programmes' and 'Home State Measures', and a provision on the relationship between the future IFD agreement and existing WTO agreements, to be included under 'Final Provisions,'" the WTO said. "The provisions on 'Home State Measures' encourage those members that have in place laws or regulations to facilitate outward investment to make them publicly available, including through electronic means. They also encourage members to share experiences and information on such measures in the future Committee on Investment Facilitation."
The next two rounds of meetings on the agreement, Nov. 23-25 and Dec. 14-16, will be hybrid in-person and online, keeping the same configuration as the previous rounds.