Section A
Article 9.1: Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
Centre means the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) established by the ICSID Convention;
claimant means an investor of a Party that is a party to an investment dispute with another Party. If that investor is a natural person, who is a permanent resident of a Party and a national of another Party, that natural person may not submit a claim to arbitration against that latter Party;
covered investment means, with respect to a Party, an investment in its territory of an investor of another Party in existence as of the date of entry into force of this Agreement for those Parties or established, acquired, or expanded thereafter;
disputing parties means the claimant and the respondent;
disputing party means either the claimant or the respondent;
enterprise means an enterprise as defined in Article 1.3 (General Definitions), and a branch of an enterprise;
enterprise of a Party means an enterprise constituted or organised under the law of a Party, or a branch located in the territory of a Party and carrying out business activities there;
freely usable currency means “freely usable currency” as determined by the International Monetary Fund under its Articles of Agreement;
ICC Arbitration Rules means the arbitration rules of the International Chamber of Commerce;
ICSID Additional Facility Rules means the Rules Governing the Additional Facility for the Administration of Proceedings by the Secretariat of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes;
ICSID Convention means the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States, done at Washington, March 18, 1965;
Inter-American Convention means the Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration, done at Panama, January 30, 1975;
investment means every asset that an investor owns or controls, directly or indirectly, that has the characteristics of an investment, including such characteristics as the commitment of capital or other resources, the expectation of gain or profit, or the assumption of risk. Forms that an investment may take include:
(a) an enterprise; (b) shares, stock and other forms of equity participation in an enterprise; (c) bonds, debentures, other debt instruments and loans; (d) futures, options and other derivatives; (e) turnkey, construction, management, production, concession, revenue-sharing and other similar contracts; (f) intellectual property rights; (g) licences, authorisations, permits and similar rights conferred pursuant to the Party’s law; and (h) other tangible or intangible, movable or immovable property, and related property rights, such as leases, mortgages, liens and pledges, but investment does not mean an order or judgment entered in a judicial or administrative action.
investment agreement means a written agreement that is concluded and takes effect after the date of entry into force of this Agreement between an authority at the central level of government of a Party and a covered investment or an investor of another Party and that creates an exchange of rights and obligations, binding on both parties under the law applicable under Article 9.24(2) (Governing Law), on which the covered investment or the investor relies in establishing or acquiring a covered investment other than the written agreement itself, and that grants rights to the covered investment or investor: (a) with respect to natural resources that a national authority controls, such as oil, natural gas, rare earth minerals, timber, gold, iron ore and other similar resources, including for their exploration, extraction, refining, transportation, distribution or sale; (b) to supply services on behalf of the Party for consumption by the general public for: power generation or distribution, water treatment or distribution, telecommunications, or other similar services supplied on behalf of the Party for consumption by the general public; or (c) to undertake infrastructure projects, such as the construction of roads, bridges, canals, dams or pipelines or other similar projects; provided, however, that the infrastructure is not for the exclusive or predominant use and benefit of the government;
investment authorisation means an authorisation that the foreign investment authority of a Party grants to a covered investment or an investor of another Party;