Relaxing Discrimanatory Restrictions on Foreign Direct Investment

A number of measures in several sectors of industry and services discriminate directly against foreign investors and are thus not consistent with the principle of non-discrimination embodied in international instruments such as the OECD Codes of Liberalisation or the National Treatment Instrument. Ownership quotas and other restrictions on foreign investment apply in agricultural land, banking and insurance as well as in the mass media, aviation and domestic transport sectors. In addition, reciprocity conditions apply to foreign participation in telecommunications, and the regulatory framework for the natural monopolies in the gas and electricity sectors sets limits on direct and indirect foreign ownership....