Decree 9-98 guarantees for foreign investors

Decree 9-98 (1998) states in its articles 2-3 the 'full parity' of the foreign investor with the Guatemalan one in economic activities (national treatment), and in article 5 the full right to use, enjoy, benefit from and own the property in the investment. It bars direct or indirect expropriation except on proven grounds of collective utility, social benefit or social interest, on non-discriminatory bases and with prior and effective compensation, and it allows the investor to turn to international arbitration or other alternative mechanisms under treaties and domestic law. Local law firms describe its chapter III ('Guarantees and Rights') as the catalog of international protection standards brought into domestic law. The dossier worked from the SICE/OAS and UNCTAD mirrors: the exact articles on free convertibility and remittance of foreign currency, and the activities the law reserves or conditions, are still to be read in the official text published in the Diario de Centro América.

The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.