Last week, the OECD organized a Regional Seminar on the prevention and avoidance of Investor-State disputes in the framework of the EU-OECD Programme on Investment in the Mediterranean, which is a EU-funded programme and implemented by the OECD and aims at facilitating capacity building and peer-learning on investment policy in MENA countries. This seminar, which took place in Cairo on the 11^th and 12^th of July, focused on the prevention of disputes between governmental agencies and investors, through the establishment of adequate dispute prevention policies and institutional mechanisms.

The regional seminar gathered policymakers from various ministries, such as Ministries of Investment, Economy and Finance, and Investment Promotion Agencies, from 8 countries from the MENA Region (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia). Also in attendance were policy makers from other countries and practitioners from the private sector. Approximately 90 participants attended this event, both in-person and virtually.  

This seminar focused on the prevention of disputes between State entities (at various levels: sectorial, regional, specialised entities etc) and investors (national, foreign, MNEs, etc), through the establishment of adequate dispute prevention measures and institutional mechanisms. Speakers provided concrete guidance as to actions that may be implemented by States (i) prior to the occurrence of any conflict, (ii) upon the occurrence of a conflict and (iii) after the escalation of a conflict into a dispute. In particular, topics such as what can States do to avoid the occurrence of conflict, how to identify conflicts that are likely to escalate into formal investment disputes, what can States do to avoid the escalation of a conflict into a formal investment dispute, but also the relevance of mediation once a conflict escalates into a dispute, were extensively addressed by speakers (policy makers and practitioners). 

There was high engagement from MENA participants in attendance throughout all the sessions, and many participants praised the relevance of the event and reiterated their strong interest in developing more robust dispute prevention policies. The participants stressed the importance and benefits of having such discussions and of learning from peer countries, from inside and outside the MENA region, to develop their own investment dispute prevention mechanisms. Recurrent issues raised by both speakers and participants as a barrier to efficient dispute prevention policies included lack of awareness of a State’s international obligations as well as difficulties in identifying the competent authority to negotiate on behalf of the State.