The Journal of

WORLD INVESTMENT

ABSTRACTS 

Daniel Roseman: Economic Impact of Trade and Investment Liberalization in the Telecommunications Sector—A Survey of Issues and Arguments

This article presents a survey on the potential or actual economic impacts as well as the pros and cons that arise in the context of liberalizing market access conditions and foreign investment restrictions in the telecommunications sector of a number of countries. It also examines the impacts of the presence or absence of pro-competitive regulations in the telecommunications sector of the covered countries. The emphasis is on the impact of restrictions on foreign ownership control and their liberalization. The survey is based on the author's review of currently available studies of the telecommunications sector prepared by academics and/or consultants. The article concludes by offering suggestions for further research on the subject.

Daniel Roseman is Principal, Roseman Associates, International Trade and Communications Consultants, Ottawa, Canada.

Eric J. Holsapple, Terutomo Ozawa, and John Olienyk: Whatever Happened to the Japanese Obsession with U.S. Real Estate Investment?

During the 1980s, Japanese investors suddenly and enthusiastically descended on the U.S. real estate market, seemingly buying everything in sight. Although the popular press headlined their acquisition of significant amounts of property, especially high visibility "trophy" properties, the divestment process, when Japanese investors exited the scene in the 1990s, was largely unexamined. The present article analyses the root causes of the initial explosion in Japanese investment in U.S. real estate, examines the aftermath and assesses the potential interest of Japanese investors in returning to the market.

Eric J. Holsapple is a Partner of Loveland Commercial Llc, Loveland, Colorado; and Lecturer in Finance and Real Estate at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Terutomo Ozawa is Professor of Economics, at Colorado State University; and Research Associate at the Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Columbia School of Business, New York.

John Olienyk is Professor of Finance and Real Estate at Colorado State University.

Sylvain Beauchamp: The New Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland—Distribution Organ, Mass Claims Adjudicative Body or Sui Generis Entity?

This article examines the characteristics and legal nature of the new Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland (Crt–ii). The Crt–ii was established in February 2001 to adjudicate claims to Swiss bank accounts submitted within the framework of the Settlement Agreement reached between the defending Swiss banks and the plaintiffs in the Holocaust Victim Assets class action litigation in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The article reviews the background which led to the establishment of the Crt–ii, including its former status as an international arbitral tribunal; describes the mandate given to it and the Rules of Procedure adopted to govern the Claims Resolution Process; and analyses its nature and its place in the international legal order.

Sylvain Beauchamp is a member of the Quebec, Canada Bar; and Associate with BMG Avocats, Geneva, Switzerland. He worked as Staff Attorney for the Secretariat of the Claims Resolution Tribunal from June 2000 to July 2002.

Kálmán Kalotay: Central and Eastern Europe—Export Platform for Investors?

As measured by gains in their shares in international exports over the period 1985 to 2000, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland have successfully become export platforms for investors. The performance of other countries in Central and Eastern Europe has lagged behind in this respect. This article offers an empirical investigation into the reasons for this divergent performance, including an examination of the various strategies adopted by Cee countries to develop their export industries during their transition to market economies and the effects of those strategies.

Kálmán Kalotay is Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, Switzerland. He is also the author of two previous articles for The Journal of World Investment: The Contribution of Foreign Direct Investment to Transition Revisited, which appeared in Vol. 2, No. 2, June 2001; and Outward Foreign Direct Investment and Governments in Central and Eastern Europe—The Cases of the Russian Federation, Hungary and Slovenia, which appeared in Vol. 3, No. 2, April 2002.

A.F.M. Maniruzzaman: Towards Regional Energy Co-operation in the Asia–Pacific—Some Lessons from the Energy Charter Treaty

The issue of energy security is currently of great concern to both developed and developing countries. The Energy Charter Treaty, although it was initiated as the European Energy Charter, has established a legal regime for energy co-operation at the intra-regional level. Efforts have been going on in recent years at both regional and sub-regional levels in the Asia–Pacific to develop energy co-operation among States. This article examines those efforts in detail before addressing the issue of whether or not the Energy Charter Treaty can be emulated in the context of Asia–Pacific regional energy co-operation. Four major aspects of the Energy Charter Treaty—its investment protection regime, its investor–State dispute settlement mechanism, energy and the environment, and energy transit—are examined closely in the light of the economic, political and cultural backgrounds of countries in the region. Some conclusions and recommendations for adapting the Energy Charter Treaty to the Asia–Pacific, especially given the cultural characteristics of the region, are offered at the end of the article.

A.F.M. Maniruzzaman is Lecturer in Law at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England; Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London; and an International Legal Consultant, among others. He is also the author of Internationalization of Foreign Investment Agreements—Some Fundamental Issues of International Law, which appeared in the December 2000 issue of The Journal of World Investment, Vol. 1, No. 2.