Author: Koichi Miki**
Published: August 2009
| Jurisdiction: Japan |
Topics: Investment Disputes BITs |
Description:
I. JAPAN’S POLICY REGARDING THE PROMOTION OF INVESTMENT TREATIES
Investment treaties, whether they are bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”) or free trade agreements (“FTAs”) or economic partnership agreements (“EPAs”), have emerged as leading global vehicles to complement the WTO scheme and to bolster economic relationships among nations. Their use is dramatically increasing in importance. In recognition of this, the government of Japan has been developing a basic policy to promote investment treaties consistent with this unquestionable world trend.
Japan is currently a party to 25 investment treaties, consisting of 15 BITs and ten EPAs containing investment chapters. These 25 treaties can be categorized into three groups.
The first group falls into the traditional type of investment protection treaty. Japan entered into nine BITs between 1977 and 2002, before a more systematic policy was adopted, as follows:
● Egypt (1977, 1978)2
● Sri Lanka (1982, 1982)
● China (1988, 1989)
● Turkey (1992, 1993)
● Hong Kong (1997, 1997)
● Bangladesh (1998, 1999)
● Russia (1998, 2000)
● Pakistan (1998, 2002)
● Mongolia (2001, 2002)
The second group is a more modern type of investment treaty containing regulations against barriers to entry by foreign capital. Japan entered into six BITs in this category between 2002 and 2009, as follows:
● Korea (2002, 2003)
● Viet Nam (2003, 2004)
● Cambodia (2007, 2008)
● Laos (2008, 2008)
● Uzbekistan (2008, 2009)
● Peru (2008, still pending)
*Current Developments
**Professor of Law, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.