./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/W/263
20 July 1999
(99-3036)
General Council Original:  English
PREPARATIONS FOR THE 1999 MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Negotiations on Trade and Investment
Communication from Switzerland
The following communication, dated 20 July 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Switzerland.
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Proposal
1. Negotiations shall aim to establish a multilateral framework of principles, rules and
disciplines for international investment with the overall objective to increase legal security and
predictability for governments and investors, as well  as to favour international flows of investment,
taking into account the work already undertaken in the WTO Working Party on the Relationship
between Trade and Investment.  Due consideration shall be given to the WTO Agreement on Trade-
Related Investment Measures with a view to supplement the list of measures which are inconsistent
with WTO rules.  The negotiations shall also ensure the coherence between the multilateral
framework on investment and the relevant WTO agreements like the General Agreement on Trade inServices (GATS).
Background
2. In Switzerland's view, the introduction of multilateral rules for investment should be among
the main subjects of the forthcoming round of WTO negotiations.  A fair, transparent and predictableinternational system in this area is bound to be beneficial in ensuring a more rational utilization of
resources, creating employment opportunities and improving living standards.
3. The overall objective is to favour, in an orderly manner, not only liberalization, but also the
promotion and protection of international investment, bearing in mind the need for the host countries
to be able to conduct their own economic policies.
4. The draft mandate proposed by Switzerland is deliberately very broad and open.  To begin
with, Members must agree on the notion of international investment, since the definition adopted will
have a determining influence on the nature and scope of the obligations that a multilateral agreement
could contain.  The above draft mandate makes it possible not only to address the application of the
fundamental principles of national treatment and most-favoured-nation treatment to investment, but
also to develop new rules, for example with re spect to incentives or performance requirements.WT/GC/W/263
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5. It will be essential, during the forthcoming negotiations, to ensure full coherence between the
new rules and the relevant WTO Agreements, in particular the Agreement on Trade-Related
Investment Measures - which will have to be adapted if necessary - and the General Agreement on
Trade in Services.
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