Angola and China signed in Beijing an Agreement for the Reciprocal Protection and Promotion of Investments (APPRI), with the aim to strengthen cooperation between the two nations.
The APPRI was signed by the Angolan Foreign Affairs minister Téte António and the Chinese Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao.
The legal tool aims to promote greater economic cooperation, stimulate the flow of capital and economic development and to secure a stable, transparent and non-discriminatory framework for investment between Angola and China.
It recognizes the importance of providing effective means and procedures to protect investment rights and interests under national legislation, as well as through international arbitration to ensure stability and trust between investors from both countries.
The APPRI aims to demonstrate to international investors the existence of a legal and security mechanism for realizing their investments.
Angola has agreements in this area on the African continent with South Africa, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, in Asia with Qatar, and in Europe with Portugal, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia and France.
The architecture of the latest generation of APPRIs must include a limited definition of investment, clearly defining the assets that must be protected.
Clarification of provisions such as indirect expropriation, fair treatment and most favoured nation, as well as investor versus state dispute settlement, transparency in arbitration procedures, open sessions, publication of documents and the public participation of civil society that are usually part of the agreements.