Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement

As with all the new reforms , the foreign investment policy of govt of India was also liberalised in 1991 . Negotiations underta en with a number of countries to enter into Bilateral Investment Promotion ! Protection Agreement "BIPAs# in order to promote and protect on reciprocal basis investment of the investors. $overnment of India have, so far, " as on July 2012# signed BIPAs with %& countries out of which '& BIPAs have already come into force and the remaining agreements are in the process of being enforced. BIPA applies to the (investment) made by an (investor) of one contracting party "the signing country# in the territory of the other. BIPA benefits can be claimed by an (investor) who could be a national of a signing country, or a legal person incorporated in that country. *urther, (investments) is widely defined to include everything that one e+pects in a multinational,s business - movable or immovable property, shares and other securities, contractual rights, intellectual property rights, concessions for prospecting, research and e+ploitation of natural resources, and so on. .he agreement provides that each contracting party shall promote in its territory investments by an investor of the other contracting party. *urther, e/uitable treatment shall be provided to such investments. BIPA provides for National and 0ost *avoured Nation "0*N# treatment. .hus a contracting party should treat investors of the other party as favourably as it would treat its own, or investors of any other country. 1imilar treatment is re/uired for the (returns) on the investments. .his does not apply to benefits under certain obligations arising from other international agreements or regional cooperation agreements. 1imilarly, matters pertaining to ta+ation are e+cluded from National and 0*N treatment A detailed mechanism is available for settlement of disputes - the Arbitral .ribunal for disputes between the contracting parties2 and the International Arbitration for disputes between an investor and a contracting party. 3ecently, 4odafone considered arbitration under BIPA for its ta+ dispute with Indian revenue authorities. *5I 4s BIPA 4s 67PA BIPA 8 post establishment investment whereas *5I 8 pre establishment investment agreement .herefore *5I not covered under BIPA. 67PA 8 Pre and Post establishment commitments As a result of a volatile economic or political environment or other reasons, investments by an investor of one country in another may be adversely affected. 3ecent instances include $03 losing an airport contract in 0aldives, free9ing ban accounts in 6yprus, and scrapping of telecom licences among others. It may be possible to get some protection in some cases and, accordingly, BIPA becomes relevant when investing in another country and thereafter. It is

understood that recently 7tihad,s investment in :et Airways was ept on hold as BIPA between India and ;A7 was insisted upon.

" Now in mrunal bhai ,s style the boring part ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, # LIST OF COUNTRIES WITH WHOM BILATERAL INVESTMENT PROMOTION AND PROTECTION A REEMENTS !BIPA" HAS BEEN SI NED !AS ON JUL#$ 2012" S%N 1. &. @. =. ?. >. '. %. 9. 1A. 11. 1&. 1@. Coun&'y ;nited <ingdom 3ussian *ederation $ermany 0alaysia 5enmar .ur menistan Netherlands Italy .aBi istan Israel 1outh <orea Poland 69ech. 3epublic Da&( o) A*'((+(n& 1=th 0arch 199= &@rd 5ecember 199= 1Ath :uly 199? @rd August 199? >th 1eptember 199? &Ath 1eptember 199? >th November 199? &@rd November 199? 1@th 5ecember 199? &9th :anuary 199> &>th *ebruary 199> 'th Cctober 199> 11th Cctober 199> Da&( o) En)o',(+(n& >th :anuary 199? ?th August 199> 1@th :uly 199% 1&th April 199' &%th August 199> &'th *ebruary &AA> 1st 5ecember 199> &>th 0arch 199% &@rd November &AA@ 1%th *ebruary 199' 'th 0ay 199> @1st 5ecember 199' >th *ebruary 199%

1=. 1?. 1>. 1'. 1%. 19. by Aruna 1.

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9th 5ecember 199> &&nd :anuary 199' %th 0arch 199' &nd April 199' =th April 199' 9th April 199'

&>th :uly &AA1 1@th *ebruary 199% 1st 5ecember 1999 1@th Cctober &AAA 1>th *ebruary &AAA &&nd November &AAA

*or an e+tended list visit httpEFFfinmin.nic.inFbipaFbipaGinde+.asp 3eferences E httpEFFfinmin.nic.inFbipaFbipaGinde+.asp httpEFFbusiness.gov.inFlegalGaspectsFbipa.php httpEFFwww.thehindu.comFbusinessFIndustryFfdiHinHmultibrandHretailHwontHta eHawayHrightHofH statesHcentreFarticle@911'%?.ece I would li e to say httpEFFpib.nic.in ,but it involves tedious search , I pib information is scattered here and there , li e all govt websites.