Key Takeaways from the 13th Ministerial Conference of the WTO

By Biswajit Dhar, Ranja Sengupta, and Abhijit Das | Commentary | March 11, 2024

The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization ended in Abu Dhabi with minimal consensus. MC13 was scheduled to end on February 29 but was extended by a day as the WTO’s 166 members failed to reach consensus on several key issues, such as agriculture, fisheries subsidies, ending the moratorium on e-commerce…

Making Sense of Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (II)

By Kavaljit Singh | Commentary | February 20, 2024

With less than a week to go until the World Trade Organization’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13), to be held in Abu Dhabi from February 26, consensus from all members on support for the proposed Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) is still missing. The proposed IFDA has thus far received the support of three-quarters of…

Three Key Issues Before the 13th Ministerial Conference of the WTO

By Biswajit Dhar | Briefing Paper # 64 | February 19, 2024

Later this month, Trade Ministers of the World Trade Organization (WTO) would meet for their 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi at a time when the multilateral trading system is losing its existential battle. This “ruled-based organisation” mandated to ensure orderly conduct of global trade through a set of rules that were mostly…

Making Sense of Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (I)

By Kavaljit Singh | Commentary | November 28, 2023

Hectic parleys are currently underway to incorporate a new agreement on investment facilitation at the World Trade Organization after 112 WTO members concluded text negotiations on an Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) on 6 July 2023. WTO members participating in the talks on IFDA hope that the proposed agreement will reach another important milestone…

India’s Experience with Investment Treaty Disputes and Related Damages

By Tathagata Choudhury | Briefing Paper # 63 | August 17, 2023

 India is an attractive destination for foreign investment (among the top 10 investment-importing countries) and is increasingly growing as an outward investor (among the top 20 investment-exporting countries). Since its economy opened up, India has been a willing participant in the international investment treaty regime. It signed its first bilateral investment treaty…