Structured Discussions on a multilateral framework on investment facilitation are underway in the World Trade Organization (WTO), following a Joint Ministerial Statement on Investment Facilitation for Development endorsed by 70 members of the WTO’s 11^th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017. If these discussions should, indeed, lead to such a framework, it would be the second agreement negotiated in the WTO, complementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement.

Regardless of the momentum, a number of countries, including developing countries, are hesitant to engage in the Structured Discussions. Their concerns persist, despite the Joint Statement explicitly stating that the core objective for creating the framework is to increase the participation of developing and least developing countries in global investment flows.

This webinar—which was conducted in an interactive manner and allowed for questions by participants—discussed key issues surrounding the discussions relating to a multilateral framework on investment facilitation. 

After an introduction to brief the webinar participants about the state of play in the WTO on this issue, the questions addressed included the following:

• What would be the impact of a multilateral framework on the policy space of countries?
• What value would it add to bilateral and national investment facilitation efforts?
• What should such a framework contain to promote sustainable FDI?
• What are the specific needs of, and benefits for, developing countries?
• Where do we go from here?

Moderator

• Karl P. Sauvant, Resident Senior Fellow, CCSI, New York

Panelists

• Axel Berger, Senior Researcher, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Bonn
• Cora Francisca Jungbluth, Senior Expert, Bertelsmann Foundation, Gütersloh
• Kavaljit Singh, Director, Madhyam, a public policy research institute, New Delhi
• Zixuan Zhou, Permanent Mission of China to the WTO, Geneva

Facilitator

• Theresa Carpenter, Executive Director, Centre for Trade and Economic Integration, Graduate Institute, Geneva