Integration of foreign investment policies and regulations in the Western Hemisphere

Currently, a very large scale negotiation on economic integration involving the entire Western Hemisphere, save Cuba, is taking place. The 1994 Summit of the Americas called for the completion of the negotiation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas no later than 2005. Given the ample recognition that investment codification is an essential complement to rules governing trade flows, the eventual incorporation of a comprehensive set of investment rules within the free trade area agreement, seems unavoidable.;The inclusion of such rules within the regional trading system would constitute an extension of the recent practice of incorporating investment norms within integration and trade agreements. Precisely, at the hemispheric level, an interesting array of investment-related instruments exist, and the principles contained in them can be regarded as indicative of countries' positions concerning investment provisions.;Despite a general convergence toward liberalization, differences remain among states' disposition toward investment. Significant advances have been made in the study of actual regimes in order to launch negotiations within the framework of the free trade area. The challenge thus, will be to seek common ground and reach an agreement consistent with the regional trend toward trade liberalization, and to reconcile the interests of the different sub-regions within the continent. This thesis mainly explores the current regulatory framework of foreign investment and affirms the need for comprehensive international integration of rules in this area. Further, it attempts to assess the basis upon which such a wider and deeper agreement could be achieved.