New Delhi, Mar 12 (UNI) The bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement between India and Trinidad and Tobago was signed here today by minister for commerce and industry Kamal Nath and his counterpart Kenneth Valley.

The pact aims at increasing bilateral investment and technology flows between the two countries by creating favourable conditions for investors.

These include a mutually acceptable definition of investment as also IPR besides national treatment and most favoured nation treatment, protection against expropriation except for a public purpose against a fair and equitable compensation, full reparability of investment and returns.

The agreement provides elaborate dispute resolution mechanism to settle disputes between an investor and the host government or between the two governments. The dispute resolution mechanism includes recourse to negotiations, conciliation, domestic dispute resolution mechanism and to international arbitration.

The agreement will remain in force for a period of ten years and thereafter, it will be deemed to have been automatically extended unless either country gives to the other country a written notice of its intention to terminate the pact.

It is hoped that the agreement will serve as a catalyst in boosting investment flows between the two countries, according to an official statement.

UNI