The landscape of institutions and organisations aiming at investment regulation has been changing for many years. Energy is considered nowadays as one of the most important elements of the world economy. Global energy issues have become more visible on the international agenda. The topic of sustainable and affordable energy access is rapidly gaining importance. Therefore financing energy infrastructure remains one of the biggest challenges for governments and private companies. In the era of globalisation, foreign direct investments (FDI) play a crucial role not only in infrastructure capacity building but also in macroeconomic growth.

Mr. Bak's presentation will highlight the opportunities offered by the Energy Charter Treaty's provisions on investment protection and promotion, as well as the uniqueness of the Treaty's dispute settlement mechanisms. Mr. Bak will consider various ways of making the Treaty's provisions on investment promotion and protection more visible and more useful for raising the Charter's profile. The presentation will conclude with the author's suggestions and recommendations on how the Charter could proceed with its expansion and outreach policy taking into account various exiting agreements on FDI.

The presentation and subsequent discussion during this public hearing will serve as the basis for an occasional paper, which will be published on the Energy Charter website in October 2013.