Story: Multilateral organisations

Resisting multilateralism

Resisting multilateralism

Part of a protest march moves through Wellington in 1998, on its way to Parliament. The Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) was proposed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), of which New Zealand is a member. The MAI was intended to provide a framework for international investment based on highly liberalised national investment controls and improved investment protection, with effective dispute settlement procedures, open to non-OECD countries. The proposal provoked vehement opposition internationally. Those opposed argued the MAI favoured big business and was being imposed without adequate consultation. In the end, the initiative collapsed.

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Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PAColl-7327)
Reference: EP/1998/1377/35
Photograph by John Nicholson

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Rod Alley, 'Multilateral organisations - Trade and finance', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/33828/resisting-multilateralism (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Rod Alley, published 20 Jun 2012