International academy of comparative law XVIII international congress of comparative law Washington 2010: Towards a balanced liberal investment regime: General Report on the protection of Foreign investment

This study attempts to illustrate the status quo of the legal protection of foreign investment in the world and the trends of its development, on the basis of a comparative study of original reports on the subject from 22 representative jurisdictions, taking into account other relevant recent studies It covers the most important aspects, including admission, treatment standards, investment contracts, tax regime and incentives, performance requirements, property and expropriation, monetary transfer and dispute settlement. It concludes with an outlook on the future of the international investment regime. The study has identified three main themes of recent developments in foreign investment protection, namely "harmonisation," "balancing" and "socialisation." It concludes that the paradigm of international investment law has been shifting from "North-South divide" to "private-public debate," and that the future development of international investment law will most likely lead to a multilateral investment agreement (MIA) effectuating a "balanced liberal" investment regime.