Presentation by Zoe Williams and Taylor St John, given on May 27, 2021, as part of the webinar "Reflecting on a year online: Lessons from a survey of international investment negotiators."

1. Reflecting on a year online:
Lessons from a survey of
international investment negotiators
Zoe Phillips Williams
Taylor St John
May 27, 2021

2. Welcome and housekeeping
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• Une interprétation en français est disponible; veuillez cliquer sur
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3. Speakers
• Taylor St John - Assistant Professor, University of St Andrews
• Zoe Williams - Associate, Managing Editor of Investment Treaty News, IISD
• Cissé Aminata Traore - Permanent Secretary of the Superior Council of the Private
Sector, Mali
• Quynh Vu - Deputy Director-General, Department of Legislation, Ministry of
Planning and Investment, Vietnam
• Geoff Pigman - global policy and strategy consultant, and Associate Researcher
in Lausanne University's Global Sport and Olympic Studies Centre

4. Agenda
• Welcoming remarks
• Part I - Challenges arising out of virtual negotiations
• Presentation of IISD survey findings
• Expert panel discussion
• Q&A
• Part II - Recommendations and options to improve developing country
participation in virtual negotiations
• Presentation of recommendations in the IISD survey
• Expert panel discussion
• Q&A and brainstorming
• Closing remarks

5. Part 1:
Survey Results

6. Aim of the research
• Completely virtual or hybrid negotiations may continue post-pandemic, given the
financial and environmental costs of in-person meetings
• What challenges do virtual negotiations present, especially for developing
countries?
• Is the conduct of negotiations different online, and if so, how?
• What is gained and what is lost when negotiations are conducted virtually?
What have negotiators learned or experienced during the
past year of virtual negotiations?

7. Survey overview
• UNCITRAL and JSI surveys both available in English, French, and Spanish
• Online survey using Qualtrics
• Sent to 171 developing country negotiators and 16 OECD negotiators involved in
UNCITRAL WGIII
• From this group we received 45 responses (a response rate of 26%)
• Sent to 53 developing country negotiators involved in the JSI on investment
facilitation
• From this group we received 18 responses (a response rate of 34%)
Negotiators who attend UNCITRAL Working Group III or Joint Statement
Initiative (JSI) on investment facilitation among a group of WTO Members

8. Respondents
• Regions: Sub-Saharan Africa & Latin America
best represented (see table)
• Ministries: reflect that investment negotiators sit
in a variety of ministries
• Ministries of economy, finance, trade & industry,
foreign affairs, attorney general, investment
promotion offices, investment dispute defense
teams, and permanent delegations to the WTO
Mix of regions and development levels
Mix of ministries
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Sub-Saharan
Africa
Latin America
& Caribbean
South East
Asia
MENA OECD Eastern
Europe (non-
OECD)
Respondents by Region

9. Barriers to participation
Old barriers to participation disappear, but new barriers
appear
Do you face any barriers or obstacles to in-person
participation?
Funds for travel & accommodation 30%
Obtaining ministry approval for travel &
participation
14%
Learning about meetings with adequate
notice
14%
Obtaining a visa 7%
Do you face any barriers or obstacles to virtual
participation?
Time Zones 24%
Competing priorities at work 24%
Unreliable or no internet connectivity 12%
Computer equipment or software 10%

10. Preparing for virtual negotiations
Respondents reported preparing in broadly similar ways
for in-person and virtual negotiations
How do you prepare for a virtual meeting?
Meeting, virtually or in person, with others in your ministry 31%
Meeting, virtually or in person, with members of other ministries or agencies 31%
Reading the submissions of other states/WTO members 29%
Attending virtual capacity building seminars 20%
Attending seminars or webinars 16%
Coordinating positions with like minded states/WTO members 12%
Meeting with domestic industry or civil society groups 5%

11. Preparing for virtual negotiations (2)
However, some respondents reported dedicating less
time to preparing for virtual negotiations
Do you prepare more, less, or the same for online negotiations?
I prepare less 20%
I prepare the same 25%
I prepare more 7%

12. Attending virtual negotiations
• 39% of respondents said their delegation was “more likely” to attend a virtual negotiation,
while 43% said they were “as likely” to attend
• Most frequent explanation was lower costs
• 50% of respondents said their “state is more likely to have officials from multiple ministries
present in virtual negotiations”
• 37% of respondents said their state would “send” a larger delegation to virtual negotiations
• 26% of respondents said more junior delegates would attend virtual negotiations
Lower costs  more states and more officials from each
state attending negotiation?

13. Communicating with other delegations
Email and text message/WhatsApp are popular in-person
and online
During in-person negotiations, how do you contact other
negotiators? Select all that apply.
Talking to them in person 39
Text messaging, WhatsApp, or other messaging 26
Email 23
Calling them on the phone (or by skype/zoom/etc) 11
During virtual negotiations, how do you contact other
negotiators? Select all that apply.
Email 28
Text messaging, WhatsApp or other messaging 23
Negotiating platform’s chat function 16
Calling them on the phone (or by skype/zoom/etc) 9
If you use email, WhatsApp, or similar apps, what functions do you use it for? Select all that apply.
Discussing what is happening or sharing reactions with other states 18
Scheduling times and places to meet other officials 17
Coordinating statements or interventions in group chats 17
I do not use WhatsApp to communicate with other officials 4

14. Communicating with other delegations (2)
• 70% of respondents reported being in contact with other negotiators less
frequently during virtual negotiations
• 70% of respondents say that speaking informally with other officials is a high
priority
• Pressing challenge: how can informal chats and “corridor discussions” be
replicated online?
Less (if any) informal contact during virtual negotiations,
less frequent contact

15. Challenges to arranging cooperation
• Difficult to identify who to cooperate with and how to contact them
• “You do not know the relevant person and/or it is difficult to see them.”
• Limited interaction and human contact
• “Interaction is very limited. There is no way of identifying, talking, or exchanging ideas
[in a virtual negotiation].”
• Deciding to cooperate or reaching consensus requires a safe space
• “When something is written it becomes a precedent and therefore states try to only
write their official positions. To reach consensus requires a safe space to discuss, in
which parties are free to express new positions or new visions.”
Fewer spaces for informal chats  more difficult to find allies
and arrange new cooperation

16. Being able to focus on negotiations
• “In virtual negotiations the attention
of each participant is divided
between the meeting and its
activities, and day-to-day work.”
Many respondents feel that they are not able to focus fully
on virtual negotiations because they are also expected to
complete day-to-day work
When you attend virtual negotiations, to what extent can you
focus solely on the negotiations?
More focused than when I attend in person 13%
Equally focused 40%
Less focused than when I attend in person 47%

17. Benefits of virtual negotiations
• Lower costs
• “Less expense, more delegates”
• “Cost, ease, and access.”
• More access, both for more states and for more participants (i.e. for officials
from capital or officials in different ministries)
• “Capital officials get more involved since they have the chance to participate
directly in the meetings. That gets them more engaged in the process.”
“Less expense, more delegates.”

18. Drawbacks of virtual negotiations
• Lack of informal interaction
• “Social interaction with other delegates is important. It is not the same to interact with them on a daily basis during
in-person meetings than to interact through online platforms. It lacks the personal touch by participants.”
• Less deliberation and exchange of ideas
• “…there is not enough space to convince others or to be convinced”
• “Personal contact is an opportunity not only for negotiation but also for exchange and learning. This is not the case
with virtual negotiations unfortunately.”
• Less information
• “Virtual negotiations are more solitary, lonelier, I don't know how to put it, but one does not have even a hint of the
reactions of others, or even the possibility of reading others’ body language or reaction to ideas. In a virtual
environment, one does not know what is happening in the room and that is always relevant information.”
• Sidelining less active participants
• Interruptions in the home office, time zone scheduling challenges can sideline some delegations.
Less informal interaction, less deliberation, less information

19. Part 2:
Recommendations

20. Which phases of negotiations work well
online? Which do not?
• Earlier, technical phases of negotiations could be carried out online
• Respondents thought that later phases of negotiation, where decisions must be
taken, would be better carried out in-person
• “Hybrids, as it enables reduction of costs and time for less significant meetings. The
in-person negotiations are irreplaceable in critical and substantive phases.”
Many respondents saw potential for hybrid negotiations

21. Recommendations for governments
1. Minimize distractions or competing priorities for officials. Treat
officials attending virtual negotiations as though they are at an in-
person meeting. Expect to receive an out-of-office reply if they are
emailed.
2. Use virtual negotiations as an opportunity for officials from capital to
participate formally, even if they have not attended in-person
negotiations.
3. Ensure negotiators have the IT equipment needed to contribute.

22. Recommendations for secretariats
1. Enable informal contact in a virtual environment by sharing contacts
2. Enable informal contact by making the breaks in a virtual negotiation more
like the breaks in an in-person negotiation, that is, an opportunity to chat
with each other informally
3. Enable more informal contact and also lessen the negative impact of time
differences by condensing the meetings through shorter breaks.
4. Facilitate training sessions to familiarize delegates with the software
5. Ensure early communication of meeting schedules and documentation
6. Facilitate debate and conversation by making comments and questions
visible

23. Final reflections
• Delegates are facing competing demands on their time
• Lack of informal communication is a problem; efforts should be made to
recreate spaces in which informal discussion is possible
• Similarly, channels for delegates to meet each other are important
• Hybrid negotiations risk creating a “two-tier” negotiating system,
entrenching inequalities (if, e.g. some delegations with fewer resources
make the decision to participate virtually)
• Hybrid negotiations may alter negotiators’ relationships with domestic
audiences, either curtailing ability to reach compromises or encouraging
buy-in and involvement by domestic actors

24. Additional Resources & Extra Slides
These full papers will soon be available:
• Zoe Phillips Williams and Taylor St John (2021) Reflecting on a Year
Online: Lessons from a Survey of International Investment Negotiators.
IISD.
• Geoffrey Allen Pigman (2021) Influencing Outcomes in a Changing
Environment at the WTO: A Commonwealth Developing Country
Perspective. Commonwealth Secretariat.

25. Who provides input during preparations
• Likely trend towards larger delegations
attending virtual negotiations
• These larger delegations may include
officials from a range of ministries as
well as more senior and more junior
officials than typically attend the
negotiations
• Knowing they will attend may lead
these ministries or senior/junior
officials to be more involved providing
input
More junior officials, officials based in capital, and female officials
may be more likely to provide input during virtual negotiations
Are different individuals likely to provide input during preparation if
negotiations are virtual? Select all that apply.
No, there are no changes in who is likely to provide input 29
Yes, junior officials are likelier to provide input (in addition
to senior officials)
16
Yes, officials based in the capital are likelier to provide
input
10
Yes, female officials are likelier to provide input 7

26. Who speaks for governments
• Officials from capital (especially in the JSI
context) are more likely to speak during
virtual negotiations
• Junior officials are also likelier to speak;
this could suggest virtual negotiations
are seen as less prestigious or as a
training ground
More junior officials, officials based in capital, and female officials
may be more likely to speak during virtual negotiations
Are different individuals likely to speak for your government if
negotiations are virtual? Select all that apply.
No, there are no changes in who is likely to speak 32
Yes, junior officials are likelier to speak (in addition to
senior officials)
12
Yes, officials based in the capital are likelier to speak 12
Yes, female officials are likelier to speak 6