The previous chapter has highlighted that international financial flows, including foreign investment, often bring some degree of technology transfer, have grown greatly during the 1990s and changed greatly in their structure. This has been due to many factors. Amongst these are the liberalisation of certain domestic sectors with the granting of access to foreign investors; development of domestic property laws, including on intellectual property; and developments in various international conferences such as the United Nations General Assembly Special Session of 1997 (UNGASS, 1997), and decisions adopted at the 6th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) (UNCSD, 1998). Most notable among these agreements has been the completion of the GATT Uruguay Round and the associated establishment of the World Trade Organisation. In addition, there are a number of other associated agreements that have helped to encourage or facilitate international investment² .

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