The full video recording of UNCTAD’s Virtual IIA Conference 2020 “IIA Reform in Times of COVID-19”, held on 26 November 2020, is now available.

The conference brought together over 200 participants from Governments, international and regional organizations, private sector, academia, civil society and media. Experts generally recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis posed great challenges but also provided a new impetus for the reform of the international investment agreements (IIA) regime. Countries can build on the growing wealth of IIA reform experience to accelerate the modernization international investment regime.

The Virtual IIA Conference 2020 echoed the need to ensure that the IIA regime promotes and facilitates investment for sustainable development and that it safeguards the right of States to regulate in protection of public health in the post-pandemic era. UNCTAD’s new IIA Reform Accelerator can play a pivotal role in this respect.

The Virtual IIA Conference, a World Investment Forum (WIF) satellite event, aimed at paving the way for more inclusive, transparent, and synchronized IIA reform processes in the pursuit of sustainable development. In addition to the live discussions at the conference, the event also benefited from video messages and written statements from governments and other stakeholders around the world informing about ongoing IIA reform efforts. We thank all panellist, experts and participants for their contribution to this conference.

The next UNCTAD Annual IIA Conference will take place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in 2021 as part of the World Investment Forum.

Download full video recording (968 MB)