<h1>Bilateral investment treaty sets investor protections, expropriation safeguards, transfer guarantees, five-year local remedy requirement before arbitration</h1> Two countries concluded a bilateral investment treaty to promote and protect cross-border investments, providing safeguards against expropriation, guarantees for transfers and compensation, transparency obligations, and a minimum standard of treatment while preserving state regulatory space. The pact establishes an independent arbitration mechanism for investor-state disputes and requires exhaustion of local remedies for up to five years before international arbitration, balancing investor protection with sovereign fiscal and policy interests. The agreement is intended to increase bilateral investment flows, complement ongoing free-trade negotiations, and forms part of broader efforts to modernize the treaty framework to attract and secure foreign investment.