The initiative achieved consensus. On the night of Sunday February 25 to Monday February 26, on the occasion of the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 123 of the 164 member countries of the WTO presented an agreement of “investment facilitation” in developing countries.
A text supported by China and the European Union, but not by the United States. Above all, the list of signatories includes nearly 90 developing economies and 26 least developed economies, directly affected by this agreement. The initiative thus aims to make these emerging countries more attractive to foreign investors. Among the objectives formulated to achieve this: simplify and accelerate their administrative procedures, improve the transparency of their economies or even fight corruption.
A welcome move, as foreign direct investment in developing countries fell by 9% last year compared to 2022, according to the latest data of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published at the end of January.
In reaction to this announcement, the Director General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, welcomed an “innovative agreement” which should, according to her, “stimulate growth, productivity gains, job creation and integration into global supply chains.
The 123 signatories to the text also want to see these principles integrated into the global rules of the WTO, so that a country outside the agreement can participate voluntarily. An incorporation which will however have to be voted on by all 164 member countries of the organization, including India, generally opposed to texts negotiated multilaterally.