Comparative Study of the Origin, Evolution and Current State of Play of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) of BRICS Countries

Overview

This Discussion Paper observed that the original motivation to enter into BITs for all BRICS economies was the need and eagerness to attract foreign investment in view of domestic constraints of availability of capital. However, barring Brazil, in no other BRICS economy, the potential impact of BITs on sovereignty resulted in any of these countries not ratifying BITs. In case of China and, to some extent, Russia, concerns with respect to sovereignty of host country, resulted in these countries entering into BITs, in the initial phase, with limited or restricted investor-state dispute settlement