 THE NEW INVESTMENT CODE: FACING THE CHALLENGES |
The major causes for the inception of a new Investment Code were the liberal opinions expressed by President Joseph KABILA on January 26, 2001 during his programmatic speech, and the inadequacy of the old investment code. | After the sad wave of plundering (1991-92) that destroyed the national economic tissue and caused anxiousness among investors, it was high time the Government considered making deep reforms and restrictions of the Code. This time the Code should offer sufficient guarantees allowing for important capital influxes, which are essential to the reconstruction of that part of the DRC that has been destroyed.
According to specialists, this new Code of Investments is the appropriate response to overcome the apprehension that arises when one considers investing in the DRC not only for its simplicity, but also because of its flexibility and foresight. These are qualities that were totally unknown to the previous code, which had a reputation of being rather lax. The present Investment Code has to be given credit for establishing a sole general system granting the same advantages to everybody. It simplifies and accelerates agreement procedures. Indicative of the value of these innovations is that the investor can now resort to international courts in case of disagreement. The present code intends to conciliate investments with the improvement of social welfare, leaving the door open to both bilateral and multilateral donors. |
