We welcome you to our informational site about the
Multilateral Agreement on Investments that is in the final stages of negotiation.
The Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI) is the
result of three years of trade negotiations within the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). MAI is a trade regime
designed to eliminate nearly all barriers to international trade with the
intention of bringing a new era of global prosperity. The MAI shares
the North American Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) goals of liberalizing
international trade laws and protecting foreign investments.
The basic provisions of the MAI are:
-
the opening of most economic sectors and natural resources
to foreign ownership
-
fair and equal treatment of foreign firms
-
the removal of restrictions against the movement of capital
-
allowing for individual firms to sue foreign governments
before an international mediation panel
-
full and proper compensation for expropriation
In the following pages we discuss this controversial document
and explore its effects on the globalization of trade, as well as the effect
its ratification will have on our environment.
Background
Arguments in Favor of MAI
Arguments Against the MAI
Chart of Arguments For and
Against MAI
Middle Ground
Links to Other
MAI Sites
This page was written as an assignment in a Campuswide
Honors course at the University of California,
Irvine; Biology
H90: The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation a class instructed
by Doctor
Peter J. Bryant (pjbryant@uci.edu).
This page was authored by Brian Weatherford
and the content was provided by Jason
Lam, Kelly Lim, Stan
Ng and Brian Weatherford.
Visitors since 2 June 1998: 
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