Researchers' Activities

CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari attended an academic conference held jointly by Universitas Pelita Harapan (Indonesia) and Foreign Trade University (Vietnam) in Jakarta on 14-15 October 2014 in cooperation with the World Trade Institute (Switzerland). James presented his paper on ‘Comprehensive or BIT by BIT: ACIA and Indonesia’s BITs’. He criticised the existence of intra-ASEAN BITs (bilateral investment treaties) alongside the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), which has resulted in dual regimes of investment protection in the region, allowing investors to pick and choose the most favourable standards applicable to them. James offered recommendations for reconciliation of the regimes and preservation of Member States’ regulatory space. The conference was coupled with the launch of UPH’s WTO Chair Programme by the Deputy Director General of the WTO, Mr Yi Xiaozhun and the Ministry of Trade of Indonesia, Mr Muhammad Lutfi. James represented Singapore’s WTO Chair, Prof Michael Ewing-Chow to convey his support and interest for future collaboration with UPH. [Photo from event]

CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari attended a meeting held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia to discuss Indonesia’s review of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms included in its existing bilateral investment treaties and make recommendations for future investment agreements. The meeting, held on 14-16 August 2014 in Jakarta, was attended by government officials from various ministries and institutions in Indonesia.

CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy Professor Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari spoke at the 2014 Society of International Economic Law Conference (SIEL) in Bern, Switzerland, on 10-12 July 2014. This biennial conference brings together the top academic experts and practitioners in the field to present their work and research on topics of trade, investment, and financial law. Professor Michael Ewing-Chow was an invited speaker at the session entitled ‘”Burning Issue” in IEL: Russia, Ukraine and the Crimea – IEL Dimensions’. Mr Losari presented a paper that he co-wrote with Professor Michael Ewing-Chow on ‘A Clash of Treaties – The Legality of Countermeasures in International Trade Law and International Investment Law’. To download the presentation, please click here.

CIL Head of International Trade and Law Professor Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Associate Junianto James Losari met with ERIA Researchers, Mr. Yoshifumi Fukunaga, Ms. Lili Yan Ing, and Mr. Chandra Tri Putra to discuss ERIA’s baseline study of various investment agreements among the countries involved in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. The discussion focused on creating baseline study indicators to assess commitments on liberalisation and protection, the creation of which will provide useful information for negotiators of the RCEP.

Following the publication of their article in the Jakarta Post entitled “Indonesia should not withdraw from ICSID”, CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof Michael Ewing-Chow, and CIL Research Associate, Junianto James Losari were invited by the University of Indonesia to the National Seminar on Settlement of Investment Disputes: Indonesia, ASEAN, International, on 5 June 2014 in Jakarta, Indonesia to participate in the discussion regarding Indonesia’s policy on discontinuing or terminating its Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) regime. More than 300 participants attended the seminar, including government officials from various institutions in Indonesia, academics, and members of the media and business community. Other speakers at the seminar included: Mr Mahendra Siregar, Chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Mr Abdulkadir Jailani, Director for of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Iswahjudi Karim (Karimsyah), and Prof Hikmahanto Juwana. For a summary of the discussion, please click here.

CIL’s Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL’s RA Junianto James Losari attended the 3rd Post Graduate and Early Professionals Network of the Society for International Economic Law (SIEL/PEPA) in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow delivered an opening speech with the topic of “Global economic governance: what levels for appropriate coordination and world social and economic development?” James delivered his presentation titled: “Investor Rights in International Investment Agreements: A Theory of Dependent Rights?” For more information and to download the presentation, click here.

CIL’s Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow along with CIL’s RA Junianto James Losari were invited to attend the first Forum on International Trade and Investment (FORTRIN) meeting. Former WTO Deputy Director General Alejandro Jara, now with King & Spalding hosted the meeting. Michael and James attended by videoconference from the King & Spalding office in New York, together with Prof. Karl Sauvant of the Vale Centre of Columbia University. The meeting was attended trade and investment experts from Geneva, London, Paris, Washington DC, and New York all linked by videoconference. FORTRIN aims to provide a platform to promote the application and development of trade and investment rules with a view to bolstering the global legal framework for international economic law activity. During the first meeting, the discussion revolved around how to frame the issues of current investment rules. This is an important foundation if a multilateral approach on investment rules were to be proposed. In his intervention, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow suggested a way to contextualize the current issues by looking through the global value chains lens, as governments will be more interested in exploring further the idea of multilateral investment agreement if they can be more integrated to the value chains. The discussion also touched upon several challenges to this effort, among others: the growing reluctance of governments in being subjected to Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), the need for a better fact-finding procedure in international arbitration, the need to address burning issues such as abusive treaty shopping, and the need to educate the stakeholders, including the civil society. Preparations are required to deal with these matters before one can move towards creating a multilateral investment framework.

CIL’s Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL’s RA Junianto James Losari were invited by the DC Bar’s International Dispute Resolution Committee to attend a lunchtime panel discussion on “Changes in the System of Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Viewpoints from the Americas” that was held on 10 April 2014 at the office of Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington DC. The panelists (Anna Joubin-Bret, Jonathan S. Kallmer, and Omar Garcia-Bolivar) presented their findings of the current state of development in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in both North America and South America. Michael and James were invited to share their views on the developments in Asia and in particular ASEAN and Asia. During the discussion that was moderated by Jean Kalicki, various innovations were mentioned on how countries sought to improve the current legal frameworks. These innovations are to be implemented both at domestic and international levels and could be considered as fresh ideas for currently ongoing IIAs negotiations, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Michael said that the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA) has introduced several innovations, making it a more balanced agreement both in terms of investor protection and preserving the governments’ policy space. Separately, James queried whether there was any plans to consolidate agreements in the Americas, given that Asia has plans to do so under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiation.

The International Economic Law and Policy (IELPO) LL.M Programme of the Universidad de Barcelona invited CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy Professor Michael Ewing-Chow for the second consecutive year to teach ‘Regionalism in Asia’ as part of their programme. The course was held on 10-11 March 2014 and focused on the unique features of Asian Regionalism, with an emphasis on the trade and investment aspects of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

CIL Research Associate, Junianto James Losari spoke in the Plenary Discussion on Cooperative Ventures toward ASEAN Integration. The Plenary discussion was a part of the full day Business Law Convention held by De La Salle University College of Law in cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines on Doing Business in Free Trade Areas: Cooperative Ventures toward ASEAN Integration. The event, attended by almost 1,000 students, academia and business community, was meant to raise awareness about the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. For more information, click here.

CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy and Singapore’s WTO Chair, Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow and CIL Research Associate, Junianto James Losari taught Investment Law at the Master in Trade, Investment and Competition Law & Policy Program of Universitas Pelita Harapan in Jakarta, Indonesia. The 5-day intensive course (3-7 February 2014) cover various aspects of international investment law. For more information, click here.

CIL Research Associate Yvette Anthony assisted Senior Principal Research Fellow Christopher Thomas QC in teaching a three-day intensive training course for Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) officials on dispute settlement under international investment agreements.

Senior Principal Research Fellow Mr. Christopher Thomas, QC, was invited by Thailand’s Department of International Economic Affairs to participate in a panel discussion on 27 March 2013 organised by the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the Royal Thai Embassy in Brussels and the Mission of Thailand to the European Union, on the issue of investor-state dispute settlement under the current EU investment regime. Fellow panellists were Ms. Eugenia Costanza Laurenza of FratiniVergano Brussels and Professor Jayavadh Bunnag of International Legal Counsellors Thailand Ltd, and the session was moderated by Dr. Vilawan Mangklatanakul, Director in the International Law Development Division in Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The purpose of the session was to assist Thai government officials in their understanding of the kind of protection offered and reciprocally demanded in the present model of investment protection advocated by the EU and the significance of the option of investor-state dispute settlement in arbitrating disputes which may arise.

On 8 December 2013, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and its Center for World Trade Studies held a seminar with the theme of “Promoting Fair Trade to Achieve Sustainable Development through Doha Agenda”, a part of its three-day event, the 1st Model World Trade Organization (WTO). CIL Associate Junianto James Losari, representing Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow as the WTO Chair at NUS, delivered a talk on Diplomacy in World Trade Organization. In his talk, James explained about the dynamic of negotiations during the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali. With the consensus decision-making mechanism, every Member has an equal vote. With the number of developing countries outweighing the number of developed countries, it would be naive to argue that the WTO remains a club of rich nations or developed countries. He further observed the various advantages of having the Bali Package agreed by all WTO Members by also looking at the counterfactual. Besides James, Bapak Riza Noer Arfani, MA (WTO Chair at UGM) also delivered a talk on “Sustainable Development through Trade” which continues on exploring the results of the Bali Package and its impacts for developing countries.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS and CIL Associate Junianto James Losari attended the 9th Bali WTO Ministerial Conference which took place in Bali on 3-7 December 2013, along with the side event “Bali Trade and Development Symposium” held by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD). The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivered his opening speech and officially declared the Conference open on 3 December 2013. During the conference, negotiations had been very intense with serious concern that a deal might not be struck after all. In fact, the initial three-day Ministerial Conference (MC) had to be extended… [Read more]

CIL Staff organised and participated in the Conference on Transparency in the WTO: Between Legislation and Litigation. The Conference was held at Fort Canning Hotel, Singapore. CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof Michael Ewing-Chow presented a paper on the ‘Conceptual Framework of Transparency in WTO Context’. While CIL Research Fellow, Dr Lin Lin and CIL Research Associate, Junianto James Losari presented papers on ‘TPRs in China’ and ‘ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) Scorecard and TPR’, respectively. Prof Michael Ewing-Chow, CIL Senior Research Fellow, Melania Vilarasau Slade and Dr Lin Lin led the organisation of the Conference. For more information about the Conference, click here.

CIL Staff organised and participated in the 2nd Singapore Trade Dialogue on the World Trading System. The Conference was held at Fort Canning Hotel, Singapore. CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof Michael Ewing-Chow, CIL Senior Research Fellow, Melania Vilarasau Slade and CIL Research Fellow, Dr. Lin Lin led the organisation of the Conference. Prof Michael Ewing-Chow chaired the panel discussion on Trade and Investment Coherence in which CIL Senior Principal Research Fellow, Mr Chris Thomas QC was a speaker. CIL Research Associate, Junianto James Losari was the Rapporteur for the session. For more information about the Conference, click here.

CIL Staff organised and participated in the first CIL Conference on Food Security and Trade. The conference was at Fort Canning Hotel, Singapore. The Conference brought together leading experts on international trade in agriculture to provide an analysis of the ways in which the current international trade system can affect food security. CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy, Prof Michael Ewing-Chow presented a paper on the relationship between self-sufficiency and food security ‘From Self-Sufficiency to Collective Food Security’ and CIL Senior Research Fellow, Melania Vilarasau Slade presented a paper on ‘The Role of International Law in Tackling the Resource Challenge’. Prof Michael Ewing-Chow and Melanie Vilarasau Slade led the organisation of the Conference. For more information about the Conference, click here.

On 22 – 25 October 2013, CIL Research Associates Mr. Junianto James LOSARI and Ms. Ranyta YUSRAN attended the 2013 Padjdjaran International Legal Conference Series, “Regional Perspectives on Law and Human Rights: Where are we not and where are we heading?” in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. The Conference was organised by the Law Faculty of Padjadjaran University and opened by the Dean of Universitas Padjadjaran. Mr. LOSARI presented his paper on “ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement: Will Indonesia’s BITs Obligations be Irrelevant?” and Ms. YUSRAN presented her paper on “Combating Trafficking in Women and Children in Southeast Asia: the ASEAN Framework”. The Conference was attended by participants coming from, among others, Japan, Australia, the United States, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan. To download Mr LOSARI’s paper, click here. To download his Power Point Slides in PDF format, click here. To download Ms YUSRAN’s Power Point Slides in PDF format, click here.

CIL Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy Professor Michael Ewing-Chow was invited to teach at the Foreign Trade University in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he taught the course titled ‘Investment Law’ to students of the Masters of Trade and Investment Program on 14-18 October 2013.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by the Rajaratnam School of International Studies to speak at their Workshop on Governance of East Asian Regional Economic Architectures: The Dynamics of Regional and Global Economic Governance on 10 September 2013. Prof Ewing-Chow spoke on how the ASEAN Economic Community still relies on the WTO for many trade issues and how the WTO Trade Policy Review Mechanism was more transparent than the ASEAN Scorecard. However, he also expressed the view that the ASEAN International Investment Agreements were WTO Plus rules that were useful for the integration of the ASEAN production networks. Nonetheless, there was a real need to see how more corporation between the WTO and ASEAN could be achieved. To download Prof Ewing-Chow’s presentation in PDF format, click here.

CIL Research Associate, Junianto James Losari, participated at the International Law Association Regional Conference 2013 held in Cape Sounion, Greece, on 29-31 August 2013. The conference was hosted by the Hellenic Branch of the ILA and was held at the premise of the European Public Law Organization. This year’s conference took the theme Imperium Juris: Governance, Trade Resources. James presented a paper that he wrote together with Prof. Michael Ewing-Chow (Head of Trade and Investment Law and Policy of CIL) in one of the panels on trade. The paper titled “Countermeasures in International Trade Law and their Illegality in International Investment Law”, analyses the interaction between the trade and investment regimes and the issue that arises in it. To download the draft conference paper, click here; and to download the PowerPoint slides in PDF format, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by the World Trade Institute of the University of Berne and the Universitas Pelita Harapan to teach at the inaugural Masters of Law in Trade, Investment and Competition Law & Policy (MTIC) Program in Jakarta. Together with Research Associate, James Losari, he taught Investment Law with a particular emphasis on ASEAN and the context of investment policy in Indonesia.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by the Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH) and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN (ERIA) and East Asia to speak at the UPH-ERIA Distinguished Lecture Series on “Engendering ASEAN’s Services Value Chains”. H.E. Gita Wirjawan, the Minister of Trade for Indonesia opened the session and Prof Ewing-Chow emphasized the value of the rule of law for investor confidence in services investments particularly for telecommunications, logistics and finance.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited to teach at the University of Barcelona’s IELPO LLM Programme. He taught “Asian Regionalism” and suggested that the production network, the ASEAN hub and legalization were essential elements of the development of Asian Regionalism.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was interviewed on Laos’ competitiveness in the global economy with Haslinda Amin on Bloomberg Television’s “On The Move Asia” on 8 February 2013. Click here to watch the video.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by UNCTAD to attend its closed door planning meeting for the World Investment Report 2013 in Geneva from 31 Jan to 1 Feb 2013. Issues regarding Global Value Chains, EU investment treaties post Lisbon and recent international investment arbitration jurisprudence were discussed.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by UNESCAP and the Thai Ministry of Commerce to participate as an expert for the Dialogue Trade and Investment Coherence in Bangkok. Prof Ewing-Chow spoke on the need to understand that trade and investment policy needed to be coordinated to fully maximize the productivity gains from integrated production networks. He also highlighted the value of the legalization of the ASEAN Economic Community which will incentivize a more transparent process of governmental economic policy and decision making through the disciplines of clear rules, monitoring and in extremis dispute settlement options.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, WTO Chair and Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Programme chaired Dialogue on Improving the Investor State Dispute System. Meg Kinnear, Secretary General, ICSID, Roberto Echandi, Director, Investment Programme, WTI, Anna Joubin-Brett, Partner, Foley Hoag and Chris Thomas Q.C., CIL Senior Principal Research Fellow, participated in the Dialogue. Ideas about how capacity could be built in developing countries and how fact finding could be improved during the arbitration process as were canvassed. Participants were also keen to encourage conflict management and mediation and conciliation as an alternative to immediate litigation.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by UNESCAP to advise Least Developed Countries on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Law and Policy at the Asia-Pacific FDI Network for Least Developed and Landlocked Developing Countries.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by the Government of Myanmar and UNESCAP to advise Myanmar on its Investment Laws and Policies. Prof Ewing-Chow spent a week in Myanmar from 18 to 24 November understanding the needs of the various stakeholders while outlining the parameters and issues relating to foreign investments. His participation was highlighted in an article published by The New Light of Myanmar (download a copy in PDF) on 22 November 2012.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law and Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by the WTO as a regional expert for the WTO Regional Trade Policy Course for Asia Pacific officials at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in New Delhi, India. Prof Ewing-Chow taught “The WTO Dispute Settlement System” with Chibole Waikole, WTO Legal Affairs Officer and Alan Yanovich, Counselor, WTO Appellate Body Secretariat from 5-8 November 2012. Prof Ewing-Chow also shared his completed research on the use by Asian Developing Countries of the WTO Dispute Settlement System co-authored with CIL Student Research Assistant Alex Goh.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, WTO Chair and Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Programme, was invited to teach at the IEEM Academy of International Investment and Trade Law in Macau on “Asian Developments in Investment Agreements”.

At General Meeting of SIEL held during the SIEL 2012 conference in Singapore, A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, WTO Chair and Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Programme, was elected to the Executive Council of SIEL. He will serve a term of 3 years from 13 July 2012. SIEL is the leading forum for International Economic Law scholarship.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, WTO Chair and Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Programme, hosted WTO Chairs Dialogue during SIEL 2012 on the Future of the WTO calling for more transparency mechanisms as the way to address the slow progress in Doha negotiations. He suggested that the WTO was more than just legislation and litigation and more mechanisms for explanation could assist in trade liberalization as well. Patrick Low, Chief Economist of the WTO chaired the session.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, WTO Chair and Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Programme was invited to attend the WTO Chairs Annual Meeting at the WTO in Geneva on 25 & 26 June where he presented his paper on “From Self-Sufficiency to Collective Food Security: A Case-study on Rice”. He was then invited to attend the GTAP meeting on 27 June and the WTO Legal Affairs Division’s 30th Anniversary on 28 June.

Research Fellow Dr Lin Lin and Research Associates Ranyta Yusran and Sanjay Pala Krishnan participated in the 9th Asian Law Institute (ASLI) Conference held at the NUS Bukit Timah Campus from 31 May to 1 June 2012. In the first panel on Corporate Law & Governance, Dr Lin Lin presented on “The Evolution of Partnerships and Partnership Law in China: From the Perspective of Asset Partitioning”. Ranyta Yusran opened the first panel on International & Comparative Law by discussing “ASEAN Treaty Practice: Mapping out the Unknown”. Sanjay Pala Krishnan focused on the “Comparative Implementation of Global Conventions on International Maritime Crimes”. To access more information about the ASLI Conference 2012, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, WTO Chair and Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Programme, was invited to participate in the WTO/ICTSD/ACWL Dialogue on Managing Trade Disputes in Geneva. He spoke in two sessions – “Managing Litigation – The Need for Inter-Agency Coordination” and “How to Actively Build Legal Capacity”.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, WTO Chair and Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Programme, was invited to participate in the WTO/ICTSD/ACWL Workshop on Strengthening Legal Capacity in Developing Countries: Specialised Training on WTO in Geneva where he presented a paper on “The Use of the WTO DSM by Asian Developing Countries”.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Geraldine Fischer were invited by UNESCAP, the Thai Department of Trade Negotiations, the International Institute for Trade and Development and the WTO, as expert trainers on Investment and Services negotiations. The “Capacity building programme on Trade in Services and Investment Liberalization Negotiations” was held in Bangkok from 27-30 March 2012. 50 Thai officials and officials from the CLMV countries also participated in this programme.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programm and WTO Chair, advised the members of the Working Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) on their WTO obligations with regard to the procurement and release of rice under APTERR’s Rules and Procedures. Senior officials from the ASEAN+3 countries attended the meeting in Singapore. Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow was appointed as the Legal Expert to the APTERR project by the Asian Development Bank which has been tasked to assist APTERR with legal and economic issues. CIL Research Associate, Liu Gehuan worked with Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow on the legal opinion. In his presentation, Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow addressed legal issues relating to subsidies, procurement and market pricing. The meeting successfully negotiated a significant portion of the text of the Rules and Procedures of APTERR.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programm and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by Baker & McKenzie, Hong Kong to speak on ASEAN IIAs on 22 November 2011. Prof Ewing-Chow shared with the partners and legal associates of Baker & McKenzie, Hong Kong as well as Beijing, Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh through a videoconference link about “ASEAN & Asian International Investment Agreements (IIA): Protecting FDI from Regulatory Changes”.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by UNCTAD for the UNCTAD – City University of Hong Kong “Contemporary Issues in Investment Arbitration: Challenges and Opportunities for Asia’s Growth & Development” Conference from 21-22 November 2011. Prof Ewing-Chow spoke about “Trends and developments in FDI flows and in International Investment Agreements (IIAs): Asia from Capital Importers to Capital Exporters” and “ASEAN IIAs and Regulatory Space” both of which are based on research in collaboration with Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Geraldine Fischer. Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD opened the conference.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by the WTO as a regional expert for the WTO Regional Trade Policy Course for Asia Pacific officials at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in New Delhi, India. Prof Ewing-Chow taught “The WTO Dispute Settlement System” with Jung Aegyoung, WTO Legal Affairs Officer from 14-16 November 2011. Prof Ewing-Chow also shared his new research on the use by Asian Developing Countries of the WTO Dispute Settlement System which arose out of a collaboration with Mr Akshay Kolse-Patil.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by School of Law& Silk Road Institute for International and Comparative Law of Xi’an Jiao Tong University to their conference “CHINA IN THE WTO AT 10TH” form 3rd – 9th November 2011. Prof Ewing-Chow gave lectures on “Trade in Services” and “The Growing Centrality of China in East Asia’s Production Processes” to over 90 officials, lawyers and students attending the event. For a photo from the event, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme and WTO Chair, and Research Fellow Geraldine Fischer were consulted by Prof Sophia Listrani of Syiah Kuala University in Aceh about developing the first course on International Investment Law to be taught in English in Indonesia. Prof Listrani spent 2 weeks from 17 October to 1 November 2011 at CIL developing the curriculum and gathering the materials for the course with the advice of Prof Ewing-Chow and Ms Fischer. This project is part of a capacity building initiative for Aceh funded by the Dutch government. Last year Prof Ewing-Chow and Research Associate Liu Gehuan helped Prof Tiwardah Hamidysie develop the first course on World Trade Law in Indonesia. [View image]

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, participated in the WTI’s Annual World Trade Forum 2011: “New Directions & Emerging Challenges in International Investment Law and Policy” held on 9 Sep to 10 Sep 201. This year’s Forum, held in cooperation with UNCTAD discussed the current challenges and opportunities for global investment governance. This was a new development for the WTI’s World Trade Forum which formerly only focused on trade. Prof Ewing-Chow was a discussant for papers presented by Prof Andrea Bjorklund and Ms Yas Banifatemi, Partner, Shearman & Sterling on Convergence of Investment Rules and Consistency in Panel Interpretations. Prof Ewing-Chow also then chaired a session on “The Quest for an Adequate Balance Between Investment Protection and Liberalization and Other Public Policy Objectives” where Mr Bart Legum, Partner, Salans and Prof Anne van Aaken, University of St Gallen presented papers General Exceptions in International Investment Law and Investment and Sustainable Development. Assoc Prof Celine Levesque, University of Ottawa and Assoc Prof Susan Franck, Washington & Lee University acted as discussants.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, was invited by United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to the Ad-hoc Expert Group Meeting on the “Consolidation of International Agreements: Disentangling the Spaghetti Bowl?” held at World Trade Institute (WTI) in Bern, Switzerland on 8 and 9 September 2011. He spoke on the session with Assoc Prof Vivienne Bath, University of Sydney, Prof Rudolph Dolzer, University of Bonn, Prof Peter Muchlinski, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and Prof Andrea Bjorklund, UC Davis School of Law. Prof Ewing-Chow presented a paper which he co-wrote with CIL Adj Research Fellow Geraldine Fischer entitled ASEAN IIAS: CONSERVING REGULATORY SOVEREIGNTY WHILE PROMOTING THE RULE OF LAW? For a copy of the presentation in PDF format, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, WTO Chair and Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Programme was invited to teach at the IEEM Academy of International Investment and Trade Law in Macau on “Asian Developments in Investment Agreements”.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, was invited by the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration to present a paper titled “Investment Agreements: Protecting Against Regime Change” at the Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.