The Protection of General Interests of Host States in Regional Agreements in the Asia-Pacific Area

This chapter analyzes the provisions to improve regulatory discretion of member States included in regional investment agreement of the Asia-Pacific region. The analysis will be limited to the regional agreements only, excluding the Bilateral Investment Treaties which, in general, do not contain relevant derogatory provisions. In this context, a central role is played by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) that, since 1987, promoted the conclusion of an Investment Guarantee Agreement among the 6 States at the time members of ASEAN. However, only after the conclusion of the ASEAN Charter in 2008, which provided a more solid institutional profile to ASEAN as well as the international legal personality, ASEAN concluded a number of investment agreements: the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (among ASEAN members), and a number of agreements with third countries (China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand). All the agreements are focused exclusively on investment, with the exception of the agreement with Australia and New Zealand, which is part of a more comprehensive free trade agreement.