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Kenya hires US firm to lobby trade deals with Washington
22-Apr-2021 Nation
The Kenyan government has hired a US lobbying and public relations firm as it pushes to conclude trade agreement with Washington. Rational 360’s partners and senior employees consist of veterans of Presidents Clinton and Obama administrations.
Successor to EU-Africa Cotonou treaty marks ‘turning point’, says EU
22-Apr-2021 Euractiv
The EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific Community on Thursday (15 April) finalised the successor to the Cotonou agreement, bringing a close to two and a half years of negotiations and repeated delays.
Could COVID-19 trigger ‘localizing’ of international investment arbitration?
22-Apr-2021 South Centre
This brief argues for the ‘localization’ of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) proceedings in host States and regions where the investment is actually located.
We need to rethink investment treaties to ensure a rapid and just energy transition
22-Apr-2021 IIED
It’s time to reconsider investor-state dispute settlement; inaction risks rising costs of shifting from fossil fuels to green alternatives.
Indigenous peoples’ rights and large-scale development projects: Avoiding unexpected risks in the Americas
22-Apr-2021 JDsupra
Indigenous populations often live in territories that are earmarked for construction projects, which may lead to inevitable friction with state governments and subsequently, developers and investors.
Liz Truss to turn up pressure on Australian government in bid to land trade deal
22-Apr-2021 City AM
International trade secretary Liz Truss is preparing to pile pressure onto her Australian counterpart in a bid to land a free trade deal.
Indonesia, Iran aim to finalize preferential trade agreement
21-Apr-2021 The Jakarta Post
Indonesia and Iran highlighted the need to finalize a trade agreement between the two countries during the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to Jakarta on Monday.
Stop the Energy Charter Treaty
21-Apr-2021 Friends of the Earth Europe
This obscure treaty from the 1990s grants sweeping rights and protections to big energy investors – mainly fossil fuel companies.
Alamos Gold’s units to file $1 bln investment treaty claim against Turkey
21-Apr-2021 Reuters
Miner Alamos Gold said its Netherlands units will file an investment treaty claim exceeding $1 billion against Turkey for "unfair and inequitable treatment" with its gold mining project.
Draft convention on investments abroad (Abs-Shawcross draft convention)
20-Apr-2021 International Arbitration
One of the most significant early proposals for a multilateral agreement to protect private foreign investment was launched in 1957 by groups of European business people, and lawyers.
Interview with Nicolás M. Perrone: Investment treaties and the legal imagination
20-Apr-2021 ILA Reporter
The unusual status of foreign investors in international law is no accident, but rather the result of a “world-making project realized by a coalition of business leaders, bankers, and their lawyers in the 1950s and 1960s”.
Can trade work for workers?
20-Apr-2021 Foreign Affairs
Helping left-behind regions should be a core goal of Biden’s administration. The damage has been done, and free trade isn’t going anywhere.
How Indonesia plans to benefit from EFTA trade deal
20-Apr-2021 The Jakarta Post
The House of Representatives has recently approved a draft trade deal with the four-member EFTA that is expected to facilitate foreign investment and liberalize trade in goods and services, particularly commodities such as palm oil and raw metals.
RCEP faces challenges as comprehensive China-US competition takes shape: experts at Boao forum
20-Apr-2021 Global Times
Professor at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore, cautioned that geopolitics now have "too much influence" on world trade, which could pose "great challenges" to the further implementation of the trade deal.
EU-ACP "Post-Cotonou" agreement (inialled text, Apr. 2021)
19-Apr-2021 European Commission
Energy Charter Treaty strikes again as Uniper sues Netherlands over coal phase-out
19-Apr-2021 Euractiv
German energy company Uniper has confirmed its intention to sue the Dutch government over the country’s planned coal phase-out.
Oil companies don’t deserve reparations for fossil fuel bans. They’ll still want them
19-Apr-2021 The Guardian
Energy conglomerates have recourse to special courts and legal regimes that they helped design – and they won’t go down without a fight.
Arbitral Tribunal enforces EUR 3.4 million for Latvia from Ukrainian businessman Kazmin
19-Apr-2021 The Baltic Times
The ICSID in the case Eugene Kazmin v. Latvia issued its Award discontinuing the arbitration and ordering the Claimant, Ukrainian citizen Kazmin, to bear the costs of the proceeding.
India-EU Porto summit to see progress on FTA
19-Apr-2021 The Economic Times
The India-EU Summit in Porto early next month could see progress on a free trade agreement and treaties on investment protection and geographical indications.
NAFTA-investor lawsuits cost Canada at least $376 million: report
16-Apr-2021 iPolitics
NAFTA-investor lawsuits have cost Canadian taxpayers more than $376 million over the last 25 years, and could cost even more in the years ahead.