The Investment Version of the Asian Noodle Bowl: The Proliferation of International Investment Agreements

Abstract

While there is an extensive amount of literature on the noodle bowl of agreements in Asia, the majority of studies exclusively focus on trade (in goods). So far, little emphasis has been placed on the proliferation of international investment treaties (IIAs). Given the significance of IIAs, it is ideal to tackle them extensively as well. Investment chapters under free trade agreements (FTAs) and bilateral and plurilateral investment treaties constitute IIAs. There are more than 1,000 IIAs in Asia. The noodle bowl of FTAs usually results in more options for traders and even can bring unexpected preferences for third parties. These outcomes are all welfare-enhancing, but the literature has overemphasized the effect of complicated rules of origins and other issues. On the other hand, the story of the proliferation of IIAs and the investment noodle bowl is totally different, and as such would lead to inconsistency across IIAs and bring legal interpretation problems as well as the proliferation of unexpected investor-state disputes. This paper aims to provide a detailed reading of recent advances in Asian investment rule-making and a finer appreciation of how rules in Asian IIAs have evolved in response to stimuli. While existing studies mainly deal with the interpretation and application of the IIAs in which the rules are given, this study deals in turn with the development of rules, including investment protection. The main objective of the paper is to describe and provide an exhaustive mapping of the recent Asian experiences in investment rule-making through regional and bilateral agreements, providing a detailed analytical account of key dimensions of investment treaties. This comprehensive study offers insights on the possible make-up of future attempts at embedding comprehensive investment norms into the regional (such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership) and/or WTO