Brazil: Expert Opinion - Brazilian Law and the Internationalisation of Law as Positive Factors for Foreign and Domestic Investment

Bilateral investment treaties, bilateral or regional free trade agreements, double taxation conventions, World Trade Organization (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) agreements, human rights conventions and several other species of international treaties are increasingly frequent. The doctrine of Westphalia, based on absolute national sovereignty in the name of equality between countries, may be just a part of history.

With the countless bilateral and multilateral treaties currently in force, a criterion for evaluating which countries are good hosts to foreign investment might provide the international business community with minimum standards of protection and certain fundamental values, promoting reciprocal trust and sustainable cooperation. Let us take as an example the countries held as the most promising actors in the international stage, from the social, political and economic standpoint: the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India and China).