The primary purpose of this paper is to know which formulation of FET standard among the diverse drafting approaches best serves the interests of both States and investors. In this respect, the paper first will have a review of general categorization of FET in a number of IIAs. Subsequently, it will focus on the two most controversial formulations of FET: (1) as a standalone clause and (2) with reference to the minimum standard of treatment under customary international law. In light of this, it will discuss the impact of the various FET drafts on the decisions of arbitral tribunals dealing with this standard. Lastly, the paper will also explore the most recent approaches to the formulation of FET to see if they are capable of brining clarity in the overall discussion of FET’s formulation as well as interpretation. In short, these recent constructions of FET clauses may best serve these interests as they bring clarity.

China’s foreign investment has been growing rapidly since 1990s. In this course, the first investor-state arbitration case raised by a mainland Chinese investor, Ping An v. Belgium, drew attention to an important issue – jurisdiction ratione temporis in successive international investment agreements. It is controversial in theory and practice as to whether the basic principle of non-retroactivity should apply to the dispute settlement clause in a successive agreement. This is especially true when tribunals are interpreting different kinds of jurisdictional clauses. This paper will take the Ping An Case as an opportunity to thoroughly analyze the issue of temporal jurisdiction in successive international investment agreements. Based on such analysis, this paper will also do reflection on relevant articles in China’s existing investment agreements, providing suggestions to China regarding the issue of jurisdiction ratione temporis, in an effort to make arbitration more certain and avoid possible dismissal, as occurred in the Ping An Case.

The practice of International Investment Agreements (IIAs) has developed immensly during the past 15 years. In particular, China has gained significant experience in concluding IIAs, adapting to concerns raised following an overflow of investor state disputes. This article analyzes an interesting case-study: an investment promotion agreement signed and negotiated between China and Israel (CIBIT) during the 1990s, however ratified more than a decade later, in 2009, without modifying or updating its contents. This commentary identifies major gaps in the CIBIT, including those concerning its preamble, key definitions of ‘Investment’ and ‘Investor’, standard of protection: FET, MFN, NT, and ISDS provisions, vis-à-vis the wider transformation of international investment law. Special emphasis is given to China’s change in approach to investment and IIAs. The growing economic ties between China and Israel, including recent discussions about a free trade agreement, requires a thorough understanding of the risks and benefits of the CIBIT. Therefore, the commentary concludes with an outline of a strategic roadmap for the future revision of the CIBIT.

This paper examines the new trends of interaction between the legal transformations in China and the international investment treaties, focusing on the legal reforms after the Fourth Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Party Central Committee Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Party Central Committee of the PRC of 2014 (2014 FPS). It envisages that the 2014 FPS will impose significant influence on the current legal system in China, on the forthcoming Foreign Investment Law of China, and eventually on the negotiation and application of the international investment treaties concluded by China because the CPC Central Committee Decision on Certain significant Issues regarding the Comprehensive Promotion of Law (PCC Decision) has demonstrated the directions of legal constructions and reforms explicitly and comprehensively from the administrative, judicial, social, and jurist perspectives, which constitutes the most inclusive PCC Decision regarding Chinese law and justice.

The 47th Session of the UNCITRAL finalized the draft Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration. It aims to provide a mechanism to allow the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency to be applied to investment dispute arbitrations mandated by investment treaties concluded before April 1, 2014. This paper intends to examine these UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency and the draft Convention on Transparency. It is particularly in contrast with the relevant rules in the NAFTA, the U.S. Model BIT 2012 and the ICSID Rules 2006, to see if transparency can be enhanced in treaty-based investor-State arbitrations and to extrapolate the implications of the Rules on Transparency and the draft Convention for China’s strategy in BIT or FTA negotiations amid the trendy advancement of transparency standards.

The multilateralization of international investment law has witnessed repeated disappointments over the past six decades. Current negotiations regarding the Investment Chapter within the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement may bring about a new promise for this process. It is necessary for the TPP negotiating parties to have a proper understanding of this recent history. Circumstances under which the TPP negotiations are conducted are quite different from those of the past. Thus, it can be assumed that TPP negotiations will be concluded successfully and may have profound implications on the multilateralization of international investment law. Since TPP negotiations have multilateral consequences, several new initiatives have been proposed amongst the TPP negotiating parties, which may help alleviate the ‘legitimacy crisis’ of the past two decades. These initiatives include a new principle of Special and Differential treatment, operative provisions on investment promotion, a Side Agreement on code of conduct of transnational corporations, and an appellate mechanism for reviewing arbitral awards.

일반적인 국제법의 관점에서, 어느 국가도 외국투자를 유치하도록 강요 받을 수 없다. 영토내에서 주권을 행사하는 국가는 그들의 경제를 외국인투자자들에게 폐쇄할지 또는 개방할지에 관하여 자유롭게 결정할 권리를 가진다. 이에는 외국인투자자를 받아들여 사업을 수행함에 있어서 일정한 방법과 절차를 결정할 권리도 포함된다. 투자조약을 체결한 국가는 외국인투자를 받아들여 투자사업을 허용하여야 할 의무를 부담하며 이는 국내외 경제상황이 변할지라도 계속적으로 구속적 효력을 가진다는 것을 주지하여야 한다과거 오랜 기간 기업들이 국제적 경제영역에서 활동하고 있지만, 국제법은 기업들의 국제투자를 감독하고 보호하는 문제에 있어서 통일적인 해답을 제시하지는 못하고 있다. 국제투자를 보호하기 위한 여러 노력들이 이루어지고 있지만, 아직 국제투자를 보호하기 위한 국제법적 기반은 부족하다. 외국인투자자와 투자유치국간 투자를 시작하기 전 투자와 관련된 이행요건을 금지하거나, 보호대상이 되는 투자의 개념을 확고히 하고, 분쟁발생시 적용하는 준거법을 결정함에 있어서 국제법일반, 양자간 투자협정, 투자유치국의 국내법 등을 적용한다. 그러나 국제투자분쟁에 있어서 중요한 준거법규정을 비롯하여 외국인 투자자 및 투자를 보호하기 위한 안정적인 국제법 규정 또는 분쟁해결 체제는 아직 확실히 마련되지 않았다. 따라서 외국인 투자자 및 투자를 보호하기 위한 법적 구조는 다음의 규정을 포함하여야 한다. 첫째, 투자자와 국가간 분쟁이 발생하는 경우 ICSID와 같은 국제분쟁해결기구에 분쟁을 판단하도록 하여야 한다. 둘째, 준거법 결정과 관련하여, 투자유치국의 조치로 인하여 피해를 받은 외국인투자자에게 완전한 가치를 보상하도록 하는 국제적 기준을 제공하여야 한다. 셋째, 외국인투자자의 이익에 대한 완전한 가치를 평가 또는 결정에 있어서 무형자산, 지적재산권 등을 포함한 모든 자산의 가치를 포함하여야 한다. 이러한 노력으로 외국인투자는 계속 촉진될 것이다.

This study assessed the Jeju Provincial Government's investment promotion Jeju Free International City (JFIC) website in comparison to Hong Kong’s best practicesubnational Investment Promotion Agency’s (IPA), InvestHK, and Prince EdwardIsland’s IPA, Invest PEI. The study assessed four website dimensions that are recommended for information dissemination to potential investors: information architecture, design, content, and promotional effective- ness. This study is basedon Theodore Moran’s promotional development work, and the Multilateral Invest-ment Guarantee Agency’s (MIGA) recent IPA performance study.The JFIC website exhibited a low overall website performance score of 44%, compared to PEI (68.8%) and InvestHK (90.2%). Jeju’s Content performance (16%)was far lower than the Invest PEI and InvestHK (28% and 47% respectively) IPA scores, and this is what provides investors crucial information such as the IPA’s purpose, core (location) information, and credible, sector specific infor- mation. The JFIC site results also show weak promotional effectiveness of the website in terms of IPA branding, contact information and being easily found in basic Internet searches. The results of this assessment are consistent with MIGA’s findings between best practice IPA’s and developing IPA websites (2006).Recommendations include that Jeju Special Self-governing Province (JSSP) revisethe JFIC website entirely, or remove it and provide its full support to enhance theJeju Development Center’s website. The same website evaluation could provide useful feedback to dramatically increase the effectiveness of the JDC website as well.A true ‘one stop shop’ to service investors would be the most effective solution.Finally, it is recommended that the Investment Climate Survey be undertaken to clearlyidentify what sector specific information can be promoted to investors on the website.The information for investors will then match Jeju’s impressive progress forwardin its development.

International payment is an essential part of the economy, which is beneficial to both commercial banks and trading enterprises. Moreover, service quality, which has been a key point of discussion for decades, relates to customer satisfaction. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing international payment service quality at the Join Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) from 2015 through 2019. This research deploys both quantitative and qualitative methods to discuss the effects of these components. Statistical data was examined through different tests, including reliability analysis, correlation, and regression analysis by SPSS 16.0. The authors obtain and analyze 157 valid responses from customer surveys, then by applying an integration SERVPERF and PSQM model, identify five main components: Reliability, Tangibles, Assurance, Convenience, and Responsiveness, which explain how the customer perceives the service quality of international payment activities at BIDV. The results show that these five factors have a positive relationship with service quality, in which, Reliability has the most significant impacts on service quality level. Besides, the findings not only contribute to the literature but also give some practical implications for BIDV to improve its international payment service quality and help them to obtain customer satisfaction in the fast-changing environment.

The study aims to assess the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international trade (export and import) on Vietnam's economic growth for the 2000-2018 period. Secondary data is taken from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam. Ordinary least-square method is used in analyzing the impact of FDI, export and import on economic growth of Vietnam. Empirical test results show that FDI and international trade are related to Vietnam's economic growth. However, each economic variable has a different impact. FDI has a positive and statistically significant influence on economic growth of Vietnam. Export also has positive and statistically significant impact to the economic growth, while import has a negative but not statistically significant effect. The result is useful for the policy makers of Vietnam on foreign economic relations. In order to improve the effect of FDI and international trade on growth of the economy, the government of Vietnam should: (1) continue applying preferential policies to attract FDI; (2) select foreign investors aiming to quality, efficiency, high technology and environmental protection; (3) continue pursuing export-oriented policy; (4) enhance the added value of exported goods and control the type of imported goods; (5) further liberalize trade through signing and implementation of international trade commitments.

This study aims to assess the attraction of foreign direct investment in Vietnamese economic zones (including industrial zones and economic zones). The main research method used are synthesis and comparison analysis based on the data collected from the surveyed group comprising of enterprises operating in the economic zones in the Middle (Chu Lai, Nhon Hoi, Dung Quat) and the Southern (the largest island: Phu Quoc) . After conducting surveys, research results show that there is a difference between the assessment and the level to meet the requirements of investors with business environment, expressed through the following criteria: (1) the infrastructure; (2) quality of public services; (3) preferential policies; (4) labor; (5) market; and (6) social services. Based on the assessment of the identified criteria, this paper had suggested six number of recommendations to promote the role of attracting foreign direct investment capital into the economic zones in Vietnam: (1) implementing the "one-stop-shop" policy; (2) continuing to improve the infrastructure of economic zones; (3) prevent and ensure the security of economic zones; (4) implementing vocational training activities to improve quality of human resources; (5) development of supporting industries; (6) raising the quality of capital invested in the economic zone