INF/IFD/W/ 51 
 
6 July 2023 
(23-4613) Page: 1/2 
 Original: English  
 
 
 WTO STRUCTURED DISCUSSIONS ON INVESTMENT FACILITATION FOR DEVELOPMENT  
STATEMENT BY THE CO -COORDINATORS  
The following statement , dated 6 July 2023, has been prepared by the co-Coordinators of the WTO 
Structured Discussions on their own responsibility , and  does not represent the views  of individual 
WTO Members participating in these negotiations . 
_______________  
1  CONCLUSION OF THE NEGOTIATIONS ON THE TEXT OF THE AGREEMENT ON 
INVESTMENT FACILITATION FOR DEVELOPMENT  
1. The IFD participants hereby announce the conclusion of the negotiations on  the text of 
the Agreement  on Investment Facilitation for Development  (hereafter  the 'IFD Agreement '), 
in line with the December 2022 Statement  by the co -Coordinators .1 The conclusion marks a new 
turning point of IFD participants' efforts towards achieving an IFD Agreeme nt at the WTO . In 
accordance with the three successive Joint Statements on Investment Facilitation for Development,2 
IFD participants firmly be lieve that the proposed IFD Agreement  will contribute to creat ing a more 
transparent, efficient, and predictable environment to facilitat e not only more  investment , but also 
more sustainable investment , as well as  to anchor and support IFD participants' domestic, bilateral, 
and regional reform efforts.  
2. The text circulat ed to all WTO Members on 6 July 2023 , in WTO document INF/IFD/RD/ 136, is 
the result of three years of intense text-based negotiations amongst over 110 participating WTO 
Members at all levels of development , held  in a transparent and inclusive manner  since their launch 
in September 2020 .3 With the two years of preparatory work  preceding the launch of the 
negotiations,4 the IFD Agreement,  which builds on the 'Easter Text'5 and the subsequent 'Draft IFD 
Text',6 is the result of over five -and-a-half years  of IFD participants' work . 
3. In the second semester of 2023, t he IFD participants will step up their engage ment with the 
broader WTO Membership in view of the incorporation of the proposed IFD Agreement into the WTO 
legal architecture . In this context, the IFD participants share  the following five 'guiding principles ': 
(i) the IFD  Agreement  should be come  an integral part of the WTO treaty architecture ; (ii) it should 
be a standalone agreement ; (iii) it should  apply horizontally to  investment in  all economic  sectors; 
(iv) its benefits should be extended to all WTO Members; and ( v) it should be open to all WTO 
Members . 
4. The proposed IFD Agreement  comprises seven sections . Its objectives are notably to improve 
the transparency of measures  (Section II);  streamline administrative procedures  relating to 
investment activities  (Section III) ; promote domestic regulatory coherence and international 
 
1 Document INF/IFD/W/46 dated 16 December 2022.  
2 First Joint Ministerial Statement , December 2017; second Joint Ministerial Statement , November 2019; 
and third Joint Statement , December 2021.  
3 Transparency in the negotiations has been ensured by inviting all WTO Members to the plenary 
meetings and ensuring timely access to participants' text proposals . The co -Coordinators have circulated  
reports of the discussions to all WTO Members,  under their responsibility , to report on their consultations in 
different configurations. Furthermore, the co -Coordinators have regularly informed the entire WTO Membership 
about the latest developments in the negotiations at the Heads of Delegations' meetings and have engaged 
with Members at their request.   Negotiatin g documents are accessible  on the dedicated Investment Facilitation 
for Development portal  under the  Members' section of the WTO website . 
4 Work conducted under the 'WTO Structured Discussions on Investment Facilitation for Development' 
launched after the December 2017 Buenos Aires Joint Ministerial Statement on IFD . 
5 Document I NF/IFD/RD/74 and subsequent revisions thereof, the latest being Revision 9 of 18 
November 2022.  
6 Document INF/IFD/RD/124 and  subsequent revisions thereof,  the latest being Revision 2 of 19 June 
2023.  INF/IFD/W/51  
 
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  cooperation  between home and host economies  (Section IV) ; and provide technical assistance and 
capacity building (TACB) support to developing and least -developed country  (LDC)  Members  
(Section  V). Emphasizing its role in fostering sustainable investment  for sustainable development , 
the Agreement includes provisio ns on responsible business conduct a s well as on  measures against 
corruption (Section VI). Promoting greater developing and LDC Members' participation in global 
investment flows  and fostering sustainable development  are the Agreement's core objectives.  
5. The IFD Agreement  explicitly excludes market access, investment protection, and investor -
State dispute settlement.  
2  NEXT STEPS IN THE SECOND SEMESTER OF 2023 AND RUN -UP TO MC13  
6. In the second semester of 2023 and leading up to MC13 , IFD participants will intensify their 
work along the following four parallel complementary tracks : 
A. IFD participants will advance the discussion on legal incorporation  of the IFD Agreement 
into the WTO legal architecture and further analys e the procedural a spects in full respect of 
the WTO Agreement . They will make the necessary adjustments to the relevant provisions 
based on these discussions ; 
B. IFD participants will reach out to and engage constructively with all WTO Members, 
including non-participating Memb ers, in light of their objective to incorporat e the IFD 
Agreement into the WTO legal architecture . Outreach efforts will become a main focus in this 
new phase. IFD participants encourage all WTO Members to participate in this Joint Initiative, 
highlighting the benefits of joining the IFD Agreement, and the TACB support available under 
it. In this regar d, the IFD participan ts will step up their outreach efforts with individual and 
groups of WTO Members in a coordinated manner to explain the Agreement's pro -development 
benefits;  
C. IFD participants will intensify the ir support to the investment facilitation needs 
assessment process for developing and LDC Members , to help these countries identify  
their implementation gaps and TACB support needs , as well as to self -designate the different 
categories of commitments that they will notify for the implementation of  the Agreement.  In 
this context, a Self -Assessment Guide has been developed together with seven International 
Organizations ,7 and needs assessments pilot projects8 are underway. A conference will be 
organized in due course  for IFD donor and recipient  Member s as well as partner international 
organizations  to discuss their engagement  in the needs assessment process ; and  
D. IFD participants will complete  the following final refinements  to the text at the latest by 
the end of Octo ber 2023 : 
i. Textual adjustments that will emanate from relevant precedents and further discussions 
on legal incorporation;  
ii. technical coherence refinements  of the proposed IFD Agreement, including notably 
the legal review for rectifications of a purely technical and editorial character that do not 
affect the substance of the Agreement;  as well as  
iii. language  consistency  across the English, French and Spanish versions of the 
Agreement . 
7. With a view to organizing the work ahead of us, we , the co -Coordinators,  have proposed a 
schedule of meetings for the second part of 2023, contained in document INF/IFD/W /50, with the 
possibility to hold intersessional meetings  as needed . 
8. The co-Coordinators submit this Statement  reflecting  the common aspiration  of all IFD 
participants  that the future  IFD Agreement will reach another key landmark at the 
WTO's  13th Ministerial Conference  (MC13) in Abu Dhabi . 
__________  
 
7 Namely, the Inter -American Development Bank ( IDB); the International Trade Centre ( ITC); the 
Organisation for Economic Co -operation and Development ( OECD ); the United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development  (UNCTAD ); the United Nations Economic Commis sion for Africa (UNECA ); the World Bank Group  
(WBG);  and the World Economic Forum ( WEF). 
8 So far, the WTO Members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States countries, Lao PDR and 
Ecuador have started or taken steps to begin a needs assessment.  Also, an online survey to assess the 
potential demand for such Needs Assessments  has been conducted .