A Rule of Law Based Approach to Sustainable Economic Recovery for Least Developed Countries

A Rule of Law Based Approach to Sustainable Economic Recovery for Least Developed Countries: The contribution of ISP/LDCs as a dedicated public-private partnership for investment capacity development in the least developed countries

The impact of the global crisis triggered by COVID-19 is being felt most severely by LDCs and by the most vulnerable people within them.  It is becoming critical to develop new solutions to unlock LDCs’ capacity to create an enabling environment to attract FDI and access the resource flows required to finance their recovery efforts. Against the assessment by the LDCs of the path to their socio-economic recovery in preparation for the 2022 DOHA Conference, this Side Event will review the initial experience in implementing IDLO’s Investment Support Programme for the Least Developed Countries (ISP/LDCs)—a dedicated public-private partnership geared to supporting LDCs in managing and sustaining FDI. Discussions will focus on the distinctive features of the Programme and their contribution to innovation and enhanced impact in the international effort to support LDCs’ capacity development and help level the playing field in investment negotiations and the settlement of commercial disputes.

The Side Event focuses on IDLO’s Investment Support Programme for Least Developed Countries (ISP/LDCs) as a public-private partnership that seeks to make distinctive contribution to the international efforts to help accelerate LDCs’ recovery from COVID-19 and to advance their sustainable development goals.

ISP/LDCs provides, at no cost to beneficiaries, legal and technical advice and assistance, as well as complementary capacity-building, to both governments and eligible private sector entities in LDCs on investment-related matters, including investment negotiations and dispute settlements. Such assistance is provided by harnessing the services of lawyers and experts who provide support to the beneficiaries on a “pro bono” or reduced fee basis.

ISP/LDCs was jointly designed by the UN Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and IDLO, with support from the Government of Italy. It became fully operational in 2019, thanks to funding from the European Union and a contribution from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. Since then, the Programme has delivered investment-related technical support to a wide range of countries. This included the provision of strategic assistance to the Government of The Gambia in an investor-state arbitration with a foreign investor, which facilitated the achievement of an out-of-court settlement. The Programme moreover provides support in Malawi, Liberia and Ethiopia, with new entry-points for assistance being discussed in Uganda, Mozambique and LDCs in the Pacific Region.