More than 120 WTO member states have finalised an agreement that aims to facilitate investment in developing countries by improving transparency and clearing bureaucratic hurdles, the global trade body said Sunday.
The Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement, signed by 75 percent of the World Trade Organization’s members, would require full consensus before it could be formally incorporated, as per the body’s rules.
Despite broad backing, some members may still oppose its integration into the WTO, including India, which typically objects to agreements that do not cover all countries.
The deal was made public on the WTO’s website hours before the trade body kicked off its 13th ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi.
The deal aims to facilitate “the flow of foreign direct investment… particularly to developing and least-developed” countries with the aim of fostering sustainable development, according to the text.
To achieve this, participating countries have agreed “to improve the transparency of measures, streamline administrative procedures, adopt other investment facilitation measures and promote international cooperation.”
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