Towards G20 Guiding Principles on Investment Facilitation for Sustainable Development

Prepared for the T20 Task Force on Trade, Investment and Globalization, as an input into the 26-27 May 2019 G20 Summit chaired by Japan, this brief notes that there is growing support behind an international framework to facilitate investment for sustainable development. It suggests that the G20 consider adopting Guiding Principles on Investment Facilitation for Sustainable Development to help ensure that these efforts result in an effective, coherent, and development-oriented outcome. To this end, the brief proposes guiding principles to: (1) orient investment facilitation, (2) facilitate sustainable FDI, (3) integrate facilitation throughout the investment lifecycle, (4) engage in multi-stakeholder consultations, (5) ensure shared responsibilities, (6) encourage cooperative activities, (7) adopt a whole-of-government approach, (8) focus on national efforts within a multilateral framework, and (9) support capacity building coupled with flexibility.