The ICC Commission on Trade and Investment Policy has just issued a Policy Statement on Foreign Direct Investment arguing the necessity of FDI and of ISDS mechanisms for ensuring economic growth in our global society.

Investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), plays an important role in determining a country’s economic prospects. ICC strongly supports FDI as an effective tool to foster economic growth and sustainable development, and calls on governments to both maintain and strengthen investment protection and promotion agreements.

In the short and medium term, this can be don through high-standard bilateral and regional investment agreements, and in the longer term through an equally high-standard multilateral framework on investment. Investment agreements should continue to include strong dispute resolution provisions, through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) with independent proceedings to settle investment disputes.

The full document can be consulted here.