THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FACT SHEET

U.S.-GEORGIAN BILATERAL INVESTMENT TREATY

The United States and Georgia bilateral Treaty Concerning the Reciprocal Encouragement and Protection of Investment, commonly known as a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), is one of many such treaties between the United States and states of the former Soviet Union. The United States has concluded BITs with Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Moldova. Overall, since 1982 the United States has signed 25 BITs, 16 of which already are in force.

BITs promote stable, market-oriented policies towards foreign investment. As in other BITs negotiated by the United States, this BIT provides for:

• nondiscriminatory treatment of foreign investment both on and after establishment, subject to certain specified exceptions;
• free transfers of capital and returns on investment;
• expropriation only within international legal standards, which require prompt, adequate, and effective compensation;
• fair procedures, including access to international arbitration, for resolving disputes between investors and governments; and
• protections against performance requirements, including obligations to purchase local products or services or to export local goods.

This treaty is part of a concerted effort by the United States to expand economic relations with Georgia and all the countries of the former Soviet Union. This agreement will assist Georgia in its transition to a market economy by helping to create favorable conditions for U.S. private investment and strengthening the development of the private sector in Georgia.

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