CIL – USALI Conference on Investment Law Reform:
The View from Asia

14 – 17 June 2021: 8am (EDT) / 8pm (SGT)

Click on the names for their profiles | Presentation slides available below | Bibliography

14 June 2021

Reforming the International Law of Foreign Investment – State of Play in International Organizations

The current period is one of unprecedented activity regarding the reform of the international investment law regime. This panel surveys ongoing efforts in different institutions to address procedural and substantive reform of the international law of foreign investment.

Chair: Jose Alvarez (NYU)
a) N. Jansen Calamita (CIL) | Download Presentation Slides
b) Chi Manjiao (University of International Business and Economics (UIBE)) | | Download Presentation Slides
c) Hamed El-Kady (UNCTAD)
d) Meg Kinnear (ICSID) | Download Presentation Slides

Executive Summaries Panel 1

15 June 2021

Government Perspectives on Reform – The View from Asian Capitals

As global reform activities continue gaining momentum, what do Asian governments think about these efforts? Are they reflective of the concerns of Asian states? How are governments managing the simultaneous reform of existing treaties and the negotiations of new ones? How are ASEAN countries in particular addressing reform? Is there (or could there be) an ASEAN (or Asian) voice on these issues?

Chair: Romesh Weeramantry (CIL) | Download Presentation Slides
a) Jaemin Lee (Seoul National University)
b) Natalie Morris-Sharma (Singapore Attorney General’s Chambers)
c) Quynh Vu (Viet Nam Ministry of Planning and Industry)
d) Promod Nair (National Law School of India University, Bengaluru / Arista Chambers)

Executive Summaries Panel 2

16 June 2021

Investment Treaty Reform in Asia: Rule Makers, Takers or Breakers?

The 21st century has seen Asia emerge as the key global hub for international economic agreements. From the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to the recent China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment to China’s wide ranging Belt and Road Initiative, increasingly great swathes of the global economy being governed by agreements based in Asia. To what extent are these treaties repeating paradigms established elsewhere? Are Asia approaches to rulemaking emerging? Are some Asian actors emerging as the makers of new international norms? And are some willing to break existing rules, whether made in Asia or elsewhere?

Chair: N. Jansen Calamita (CIL)
a) Charlie Garnjana-Goonchorn (Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
b) Prabash Ranjan (South Asia University)
c) Stefanie Schacherer (CIL) | Download Presentation Slide
d) Heng Wang (University of New South Wales) | Download Presentation Slides

Executive Summaries Panel 3

17 June 2021

The Long View on Reform in Asia

Is the realignment/reform of investment treaty law having an effect of international law more generally? On regional integration in Asia? What areas of reform are not being addressed in ongoing efforts? How does investment treaty reform link with other areas of reform, both domestic and international?

Chair: Hi-Taek Shin (Seoul National University / KCAB International / Twenty Essex)
a) Jonathan Bonnitcha (University of New South Wales) | Download Presentation Slides
b) Surya Deva (City University of Hong Kong)
c) Pasha Hsieh (Singapore Management University) | Download Presentation Slides
d) Sufian Jusoh (National University of Malaysia)

Executive Summaries Panel 4

Media Partner

Transnational Dispute Management (TDM, ISSN 1875-4120) is a comprehensive and innovative information service on the management of international disputes, with a focus on the rapidly evolving area of investment arbitration, but also in other significant areas of international investment (such as oil, gas, energy, infrastructure, mining, utilities etc).

It deals both with formal adjudicatory procedures (mainly investment and commercial arbitration), but also mediation/ADR methods, negotiation and managerial ways to manage transnational disputes efficiently. See this link for more information. You can apply for a free OGEMID trial membership and students can sign up for Young-OGEMID (which is free).