Protecting Investors and Enhancing Legal Guarantees

Abstract

Countries where national savings and natural resource revenues fall short of meeting the growing capital needs required by their development plans have adopted policies that stimulate and encourage foreign investment by providing and creating a suitable climate that guarantees various aspects of political and economic risks.

There is no doubt that the arbitration clause, which aims to settle disputes that arise or that may arise in connection with the implementation of investment contracts, occupies an important and prominent place in the field of these guarantees, as foreign investments represent a main nerve of the economies of countries, especially developing ones, and therefore it was natural that providing the appropriate capabilities to attract and encourage these investments would be a matter of these countries are interested in and a fundamental objective around which most of their policies revolve, considering that it is the main channel through which capital and scientific and technical expertise flow. Therefore, countries decide on guarantees that encourage investors to invest within their territories, as they are linked to the movement of capital and its exploitation internally and externally.

The importance of resorting to arbitration was also confirmed after the issuance of investment laws in many developing countries. These countries were keen to include in these laws a set of advantages and guarantees that would encourage and attract foreign investors. However, these advantages or the guarantees provided for by the law of the host country become purely theoretical, mere promises on the part of the state and hopes on the part of the investor, in the absence of an effective means such as arbitration.

Thus, the will to protect private foreign investments does not constitute the end of the road or the only goal, it is only a means to achieve the country’s economic development policies. The latter must receive no less attention than the former, taking these considerations into account. The situation Arbitration and its use in serving international economic relations should not be limited to encouraging foreign private investment, but should be undertaken from the perspective of mutual interest for both parties, which requires taking into account the special nature of investment disputes.