V. Investment and the Doha Development Agenda: a Look at the Issues

Multilateral rule-making in the area of investment has a long and somewhat uneasy history. That history has gone hand in hand with the controversy surrounding the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in host countries’ economic and political systems.34 The relationship between trade and investment has a similarly long and troubled pedigree. Suffice it to recall that the investment provisions of the Havana Charter35 proved to be among the most controversial, contributing to the downfall of the International Trade Organization in the late 1940s. However, since the late 1960s, due to the pressure of increasing internationalization of the world economy, countries have felt the need to cooperate in the area of investment through international rules and commitments. This has led to a steady rise in investment rule-making, which today spans the bilateral, regional, inter-regional and multilateral levels.