Star News Agency

New Delhi. The Bilateral Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (BIPPA) between India and Columbia was signed here yesterday by Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Mr. Luis Guillermo Plata, Minister of Commerce, Industry & Tourism of Columbia. Both the Ministers hoped that the Agreement would serve as a catalyst in boosting investment flows between the two countries.

The Agreement aims at enhancing Bilateral Investment and Technology flows between the two countries, by creating favourable conditions for investors. These include a mutually acceptable definition of investment as also IPR, besides National Treatment and Most Favoured Nation Treatment on post-establishment basis, protection against expropriation, except for a public purpose against a fair & equitable compensation, full reparability of investment and returns.

The Agreement provides elaborate dispute resolution mechanism to settle disputes between an investor and the host Government or between the two Governments. Dispute resolution mechanism includes recourse to negotiations, conciliation, domestic dispute resolution mechanism and to international arbitration.

The Agreement shall remain in force for a period of ten years and thereafter, it shall be deemed to have been automatically extended unless either country gives to the other country a written notice of its intention to terminate the Agreement. The Agreement may be amended at any time after its entry into force by mutual consent.