While the number of disputes over crossborder investment agreements rises, the lack of an agreed, overarching system to resolve them is causing confusion and keeping lawyers busy, with no clear resolution in sight, writes Courtney Fingar.

As IT giant HP cuts staff by 7.5%, the industry predicts a migration of resources to growth markets such as India.

Worldwide regulatory reforms have reached a record high this year, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Management consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers has announced a global restructuring to follow its multinational client base into emerging markets.

Governments around the world are interested in improving the governance of the state-owned enterprises remaining in their portfolios to raise the quality of services offered, improve performance and reduce drain on public finances.

Round two of a battle between California-based Occidental Petroleum and the Republic of Ecuador is heating up.

Chaos in global financial markets and a more general economic downturn will have a significant effect on crossborder investment in the next two years.

Olaf Swantee, head of Orange mobile, talks to Lara Williams about the company’s global plan for local markets.

When the top job at Orange Mobile became available last year, Olaf Swantee’s 17 years of international experience as a senior executive within the IT industry clinched the appointment. Mr Swantee’s experience spanned a transformational period of global consolidation in the IT industry, during which time companies searched for crossmarket synergies.

Governments have been slow to clarify regulation of the online gaming industry, which leaves many issues around global expansion open to interpretation. So Betfair is playing it safe, writes Lara Williams.

A company’s first few months in a developing country are the most important, because this is when it will scope out the territory and choose a business partner, says Navjot Singh.

With its asset values decreasing and its economy stalling, the US is boosting incentives for inward investors.

Global accounting processes for US companies making international investments are to be streamlined due to a proposal by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to switch to international accounting rules.

Franco-German aerospace defence company EADS has been dealt a fresh blow as the competition for a $35bn US AirForce contract has been delayed until after the US presidential elections.

In the hard-fought run-up to the US elections, polls and predictions have combined to indicate that the outcomes for the White House and even for Congress may remain close until the very end. However, regardless of outcome, there is one policy area where investors can expect an avalanche of initiatives: energy.

Dan Tarullo, senior policy adviser for Democrat candidate Barack Obama, speaks to Lara Williams about the impact an Obama presidency would have on foreign investment in the US.

The prospect of government meddling in the Tupi offshore fields has caused much alarm – but not for Petrobras, CFO Almir Guilherme Barbassa tells Courtney Fingar.

If Mexico City were a country, it would have the 30th largest economy in the world. The city’s mayor and finance secretary tell Jason Mitchell about where the abundant inflows of foreign money go.

Retail giant finally follows rivals into the subcontinent in an outlet joint venture with local company Tata.

It’s easy to be bearish on Asia, with its dependence on the US, disasters, disease and so on. The recent triple whammy of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch takeover and AIG rescue has also shaken Asian markets briefly.

HSBC and Standard Chartered will be the first foreign banks to open operations in Vietnam as the country liberalises its banking sector.

UK acrylic products manufacturer Lucite is opening a $500m plant in Singapore in October, where it will begin a new process for cheaper acrylic.

Industrialist and Infosys chairman N R Narayana Murthy talks to Michelle Price about the challenges for the Indian IT services sector, and the economy in general.

The impact of the international slowdown on the Philippines economy has been more severe than expected, but revenue collections and overseas remittances remain strong, the finance secretary tells Ian Gill.

MIDA’s new director-general, Y Bhg Dato’ Jalilah Baba, tells how Malaysia is withstanding the credit crunch with a robust performance in attracting foreign investment.

Tightening land supply policies add new constraints to investing in China, say James Ku and Amanda Zheng.

Korea has succeeded in making itself a more conducive place to do business with an eye on using FDI revenues to kick-start its flagging economy, writes Jules Stewart.

The Korean government is in the midst of a three-year plan to make the country more business friendly as it looks to realise its vast FDI potential.

German government denies accusations of protectionism and says it is open to foreign direct investment.

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia is working with the North Rhine Westphalia authorities in Germany to enable the smooth transfer of employees to a new investor after it moved manufacturing operations to Romania.

The Swedish government has cut corporate tax and introduced measures to reduce employment costs in a bid to redress a dramatic drop in FDI in the country over the past two years.

We are now into the second year of the credit crunch, and the financial rollercoaster seems to be as bumpy as ever. It is not just the credit crunch which our European economies have been grappling with, but also rising prices in raw materials, fuel and food. The word ‘recession’ is now on everyone’s lips and GDP growth in many economies is now at nano-scale. So what’s the story on FDI into Europe?

As alternative sources of cheap labour spring up, the Hungarian state secretary for development and economy insists that if his country cannot remain a low-cost destination it will be a low-hassle one. By Lara Williams.

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space company made an unconventional decision by locating an R&D centre in South Wales – but it had sound staffing and government-relations reasons. Lara Williams reports.

Austria and Switzerland hope the attention from Euro 2008 will make them yet more attractive to foreign investors. Polly Botsford reports.

Ford, Coca-Cola, Hugo Boss and GE Healthcare are among the global big hitters unable to resist the lure of Turkey’s skilled, dependable workforce and its proximity to key European, Asian and African markets, reports Karen E Thuermer.

Telecoms company Zain demonstrates widespread lack of confidence in Kuwait’s governance by decamping abroad.

Investor confidence in one of Africa’s largest capital investments to date was seriously knocked as the World Bank pulled out of a $4bn pipeline project in Chad.

UK mobile giant Vodafone stepped up its advance into Middle East and African markets with an emerging market restructuring designed to streamline costs and facilitate further expansion.

Investors are actively looking for exotic places sheltered from financial havoc and recession after the Manic Monday that saw markets plunge and banks in peril.

The president of Coca-Cola’s African operations talks to Lara Williams about covering such a vast continent.

Its ruler is steering Dubai towards a radically different financial model that Europe and the US might do well to learn from. Stephen Timewell reports.

As FDI rises, export market share falls. As peace comes to some countries, violence intensifies in others. What is an investor to make of Africa? Michael Deibert reports.

Luke Peterson examines the crisis in the international investment arbitration system.

Is there a backlash brewing against the international legal system used by states and investors to settle FDI disputes? For several years, lawyers and academics have been debating whether the current system – consisting of more than 2600 bilateral investment protection treaties – is ensuring the security and protection of investor assets and contracts without unnecessarily handcuffing the sovereignty of governments to regulate business activity within their borders.

The fDi Creative Industries Competitiveness Index has ranked London above New York, while the US is listed as the country of choice for ICT sector investors.

While the the world’s major financial centres are in disarray, smaller markets are reaping the benefits, says Charles Piggott.

As the cacophony of economic development organisations shouting about their locations grows louder, many corporate investors are tuning out, writes Mark O’Connell.

Globally, the number of investment projects and jobs in the creative industries cluster has been growing, and 2008 looks set to surpass all other years.

Cityscape Dubai is the flagship for celebrating the ever-changing trends and achievements in world real estate, writes Rohan Marwaha.

While the rest of the world struggles in the midst of the subprime crisis, the Middle East property market continues to prosper and growth in the Gulf shows no signs of slowing down. Lara Williams reports.

Dubai’s rapid urban development is being repeated in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah, making the UAE one of the world’s fastest growing business centres, says Lara Williams.

In Dubai’s frenetic property market, supply is still outstripping demand, despite the many projects nearing completion. Lara Williams reports.

The resilient Hashemite Kingdom is enjoying an upturn with increased interest and investment, writes Nadine Marroushi.

Doha is enjoying an unprecedented boom, but inflation and a squeeze on residential property are causes for concern, writes Eleanor Gillespie.

The region’s largest real estate market has a dizzying array of new projects that are changing the urban landscape, write Dagmara Ginter and Mark Ford.

Emirates vying with each other to boost stocks of residential housing units.