[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 46 (Monday, November 24, 2008)]
[Page 1437]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting the Rwanda-United States Treaty 
Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investment

November 20, 2008

To the Senate of the United States:

    I transmit herewith, with a view to receiving the advice and consent 
of the Senate to ratification, the Treaty between the Government of the 
United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Rwanda 
Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investment, 
signed at Kigali on February 19, 2008. I transmit also, for the 
information of the Senate, the report prepared by the Department of 
State with respect to the Treaty.
    This is the first bilateral investment treaty (BIT) concluded 
between the United States and a sub-Saharan African country since 1998. 
The Treaty will help to promote cross-border investment by providing 
legal protections for investors of each country for their investments in 
the other country. The Treaty underscores the shared commitment of both 
countries to open investment and trade policies.
    Rwanda has opened its economy, improved its business climate, and 
embraced trade and investment as a means to boost economic development 
and help alleviate poverty. The U.S.-Rwanda BIT will reinforce these 
efforts.
    The Treaty is fully consistent with U.S. policy to secure 
protections for U.S. investment abroad and to welcome foreign investment 
in the United States. Under this Treaty, the Parties agree to accord 
national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment to investments. 
They also agree to customary international law standards for 
expropriation and for the minimum standard of treatment. The Treaty 
includes detailed provisions regarding the payment of prompt, adequate, 
and effective compensation in the event of expropriation; free transfer 
of funds related to investment; freedom of investment from specified 
performance requirements; prohibitions on nationality based restrictions 
for the hiring of senior managers; and the opportunity for investors to 
resolve disputes with a host government through international 
arbitration. The Treaty also includes extensive transparency obligations 
with respect to national laws and regulations and commitments to 
transparency in dispute settlement. The Parties also recognize that it 
is inappropriate to encourage investment by weakening or reducing the 
protections afforded in domestic environmental and labor laws.
    I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration 
to the Treaty and give its advice and consent to ratification.
                                                George W. Bush
 The White House,
 November 20, 2008.