Investment is the foundation of economic activity and a necessary prerequisite to innovation, growth of manufacturing and trade.
In 1993, APEC leaders welcomed the report presented by the APEC Eminent Persons Group, which recommended for APEC to “adopt an Asia-Pacific Investment Code to reduce the uncertainties and transaction costs of trade and investment in the region.” Immediately after, leaders instructed the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) to develop a set of nonbinding investment principles.
In 1994, the CTI established the Investment Experts’ Group (IEG) to fulfill this task. . The IEG developed the Non-Binding Investment Principles, which were endorsed by APEC leaders in Jakarta in 1994. As a CTI sub-forum, the IEG has worked to enhance liberalization and facilitation of investment, as well as strengthen member economies’ capacity building through economic and technical cooperation.
Bearing in mind the goal of economic development and prosperity of people across the APEC region, the objectives of the IEG are as follows:
- To undertake work related to investment and report its outcomes to the CTI
- To address issues related to investment and to enhance the liberalization and facilitation of investment in the APEC region
- To enhance capacity building in the area of investment through economic and technical cooperation among member economies in the APEC region
- To support investment promotion activities of member economies to facilitate investment flows in the region
Based on these objectives, the IEG reaffirms two principal pillars of its work as follows:
- International investment regime—principles and practices. This pillar looks at various investment issues and challenges from the perspective of international instruments such as International Investment Agreements (IIAs).
- Investment promotion, facilitation and retention, such as continuing the work on the Investment Facilitation Action Plan (IFAP), Investment Policy Dialogue (IPD), Investment Promotion Agency (IPA), best practice discussions and other crosscutting issues such as global value chains (GVC), public-private partnerships (PPP) and infrastructure.
APEC Non-Binding Investment Principles (NBIPs)
The APEC Non-Binding Investment Principles (NBIPs) demonstrate APEC’s commitment to promoting investment and addressing challenges posed by a rapidly evolving business environment. The NBIPs, originally endorsed in 1994, were successfully revised in 2011.
Investment Facilitation Action Plan
In 2008, APEC Ministers endorsed an Investment Facilitation Action Plan (IFAP) that is aimed at strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of economic growth of APEC’s member economies and making further progress towards achievement of the Bogor Goals. The IFAP includes a comprehensive prescription of actions that can be taken across a range of policy areas and has served as a valuable reference tool for the improvement of the APEC investment climate. The IEG has reviewed the action plan’s implementation progress and published five reports in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023.
Last page update: February 2025
Contacts
IEG Convenor
Investment Policy and Trade Facilitation Division Office
Ministry International Trade and Industry (MITI), Malaysia
Program Director
Current Activities
The Latest IEG Meeting
The Investment Experts’ Group (IEG) held its second meeting (IEG2) for 2024 on 19-20 August 2024 in Lima, Peru. IEG2 was attended by delegates from 18 member economies, two guest economies (Colombia and Costa Rica) and two international organizations (the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Economic Forum (WEF)), and made virtual presentations by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
Implementing the Putrajaya Vision 2040 including through Aotearoa Plan of Action (APA)
Australia showcased individual actions to increase transparency of the investment environment.
New investment issues on FTAAP Agenda
Economies discussed investment-related topics, including ESG, climate investment, sustainability, inclusivity, and digitalization. Malaysia provided an update on the project Realizing Inclusive and Responsible Business & Investment (IRBI) in APEC (IEG 01 2022T). The IRBI deliverables—Survey Report, APEC Guideline, and A Toolkit for Business and Investment Institutions in APEC—were endorsed and published on the APEC Publications site.
International Investment Regime - Principles and Practices
International organizations shared the recent global discussions on investment, such as a new development related to the FDI Qualities Initiative, RBC and other areas of sustainable investment (OECD); digital FDI Initiatives, Climate FDI Coalition (WEF); and the current Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) reform discussion taking place in Working Group III (UNCITRAL).
Australia and Papua New Guinea provided an update on Phase III of the APEC Investment Commitment Handbook Project and proposed translating the general APEC Investment Treaty Handbook into Spanish. The translation was later endorsed and published on the APEC Publications site.
Chile shared the recent progress in the negotiation of WTO Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD).
Investment Promotion, Facilitation and Retention
Peru held a workshop on Best practices aimed at attracting quality FDI and measuring it to promote sustainable development through the execution of physical infrastructure on 18 August 2025 in conjunction with the IEG2 Plenary meeting.
PSU (APEC Policy Support Unit) Research
Japan and PSU updated two PSU research projects: APEC Companies’ Best Practices on Long-term Foreign Direct Investment and Research and Survey on the Dispute Prevention and Mitigation System in APEC Economies.
Investment Facilitation Action Plan (IFAP) Principles Upgrade
Japan and PSU built on the consensus to modernize IFAP Principles during IEG1 2024, which was also reflected in the 2024 MRT Joint Statement. The upgraded IFAP principles will include novel elements such as digitalization, inclusivity and sustainability, and reference the IFD Agreement. The draft was discussed among member economies, with the goal of finalizing it at the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) in May 2025.