10 JUIN 1996. An Act to approve the Agreement between the Belgian Economic Union and the Republic of Cyprus concerning the mutual encouragement and protection of investments and the exchange of letters signed in Nicosia on 26 February 1991 (1)

Albert II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77, paragraph 1, 6, of the Constitution.
Art. 2. The Agreement between the Belgian Economic Union and the Republic of Cyprus concerning the mutual encouragement and protection of investments, and the exchange of letters, signed in Nicosia on 26 February 1991, will emerge their full and complete effect.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 10 June 1996.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
E. DERYCKE
Minister of Foreign Trade,
Ph. MAYSTADT
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
S. DE CLERCK
Agreement between the Belgo-Luxemburg Economic Union and the Republic of Cyprus on the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments and exchange of letters
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, acting both in its own name and in the name of the Government of the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg, by virtue of existing agreements,
and
The Government of the Republic of Cyprus,
Desiring to strengthen their economic cooperation by creating favourable conditions for investments by nationals of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party,
have agreed as follows:
Article 1
Definitions
For the purpose of this Agreement,
1. The term "investors" shall mean :
a) the "nationals", i.e. any natural person who, according to the laws of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg or the Republic of Cyprus, is a citizen of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg or the Republic of Cyprus respectively;
b) the "companies", i.e. any legal person constituted in accordance with the legislation of the Kingdom of Pelgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg or the Republic of Cyprus and having its registered office in the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg or the Republic of Cyprus respectively.
2. The term "investments" shall mean any kind of assets and any direct or indirect contribution in cash, in kind or in services, invested or reinvested in any sector of economic activity.
The following shall more particularly, though not exclusively, be considered as investments for the purposes of this Agreement:
a) movable and immovable property as well as any other rights in rem, such as mortgages, links, pledges, usufruct and similar rights;
(b) shares, corporate rights and any other kind of shareholdings, including minority or indirect ones, in companies constituted in the territory of one Contracting Party;
(c) bonds, claims to money and to any performance having an economic value;
(d) copyrights, industrial property rights, technical processes, trade names and goodwill;
e) business concessions conferred by law or under contract, including concessions to explore, develop, extract or exploit natural resources;
provide that such assets when invested :
(i) in the Kingdom of Belgium and in the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg are invested in accordance with their respective laws and regulations;
(ii) in the Republic of Cyprus are invested in accordance with its laws, regulations and any written permits that they may be required.
Any alteration of the form in which assets are invested shall not affect their classification as investment, provided that quch alteration is not contrary to the approval, if any, granted in respect of the assets originally invested.
3. The term "incomes" shall mean the proceeds of an investment and shall include in particular, though not exclusively, profits, interests, capital increases, dividends, royalties And payments.
Article 2
Promotion of investments
1. Each Contracting Party shall promote investments in its territory by investors of the other Contracting Party and shall accept such investments in accordance with its legislation.
2. In particular, each Contracting Party shall authorize the conclusion and the fulfilment of licence contracts and commercial, administrative or technical assistance agreements, as far as these activities are in connection with such investments.
Article 3
Protection of investments
1. All investments, whether direct or indirect, made by investors of ane Contracting Party shall enjoy a fair and equitable treatment in the territory of the other Contracting Party.
2. Except for measures required to maintain public order, such investments shall enjoy continuous protection and security, i.e. excluding any unjustified or discriminatory measure which could hinder, either in law or in practice, the management, maintenance, use, possession or liquidation thereof.
3. The treatment and protection referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall at least be equal to those enjoyed by investors of a third State and shall in no case be less favourable than those recognized under international law.
4. However, such treatment and protection shall not cover the privileges granted by one Contracting Party to the investors of a third State pursuant to its participation in or association with a free trade zone, a customs union, a common market or any other form of regional economic organization.
5. This Agreement shall not be extended to the privileges granted by one of the Contracting Parties to any third State pursuant to an agreement avoiding double taxation or pursuant to any other agreement in the field of taxation.
Article 4
Deprivation and limitation of ownership
1. Each Contracting Party undertakes not to adopt any measure of expropriation or nationalization or any other measure having the effect of directly or indirectly dispossessing the investors of the other Contracting Party of their investments in its territory.
2. If reasons of public purpose, security or national interest require a derogation from the provisions of paragraph 1, the following conditions shall be complied with:
(a) the measures shall be taken under due process of law;
(b) the measures shall be neither discriminatory, nor contrary to any specific commitments;
(c) the measures shall be accompanied by provisions for the payment of a fair and effective compensation.
3. Such compensation shall amount to the actual value of the investments on the day before the measures were taken or became public.
Such compensation shall be paid in the currency of the State of which the investor is a national or in any other convertible currency. It shall be paid without undue delay and shall be freely transferable. In the event of delay beyond one month from the date of the determination of its amount, it shall bear interest at the normal commercial rate.
4. Investors of one Contracting Party whose investments suffer losses owing to war or other armed conflict, revolution, a state of national emergency or revolt in the territory of the other Contracting Party shall be accorded by the latter Contracting Party treatment, as regards restitution, indemnification, compensation or other settlement, no less favourable than that which the latter Contracting Party accords to the investors of the most favoured nation.
5. In respect of matters dealt with in this Article, each Contracting Party shall grant to the investors of the other Contranting Party a treatment which shall at least be equal to that granted in its territory to the investors of the most favoured nation. This treatment shall in no case be less favourable than that recognized under international law.
Article 5
Transfers
1. Each Contracting Party in whose territory investments have been made by investors of the other Contracting Party shall grant to those investors the free transfer of their cash assets, including more particularly:
a) return on investments, including profits, interests, return on capital, dividends and royalties;
(b) amounts necessary for the repayment of regularly contracted loans;
(c) proceeds of the recovery of claims, of the total or partial liquidation of the investments, including capital gains or increases in the invested capital;
(d) compensation paid pursuant to Article 4;
e) royalties and other payments resulting from licence rights and from commercial, administrative or technical assistance.
2. The nationals of each Contracting Party who have been authorized to work in the territory of the other Contracting Party in connection with an approved investment shall also be permitted to transfer an appropriate portion of their earnings to their country of origin.
3. Each Contracting Party shall issue the authorizations required to ensure that the transfers can be made without undue delay, with no other expenses than the usual taxes and costs.
The guarantees referred to in this Article shall at least be equal to those granted in similar cases to the investors of the most favoured nation.
Article 6
1. The transfers referred to in Articles 4 and 5 of this Agreement shall be made :
a) at the exchange rates prevailing on the date of transfer,
b) in accordance with the exchange regulations in force in the State in whose territory the investment was
2. These rates shall in no way be less favourable than those granted to the investors of the most favoured nation, especially by virtue of specific commitments provided for in any agreement or arrangement dealing with the protection of investments.
3. The applied rates shall be in any case fair and equitable.
Article 7
Subrogation
1. If one Contracting Party or any public institution of this Party country compensation to its own investors pursuant to a guarantee providing coverage for an investment, the other Contracting Party shall recognize that the former Contracting Party or the public institution concerned is subrogated as insurer into the rights of the indemnified investors.
The insurer shall be entitled by virtue of subrogation to exercise the rights of the investors and to invoke the related claims with the same authority as the said investors and within the limits of the rights transferred in this way.
The subrogation of rights shall also apply to the rights of transfer or arbitration referred to in Articles 5 and 10.
Such rights shall be exercised by the insurer to the extent of the proportion of the risk covered by the contract of guarantee and by the investor entitled to benefit from the guarantee to the extent of the proportion of the risk not covered by the contract.
2. As far as the transferred rights are concerned, the other Contracting Party shall be entitled to invoke against the insurer who is subrogated into the rights of the indemnified investors the obligations of the latter under law or contract.
Article 8
Applicable regulations
If an issue relating to investments is covered both by this Agreement and by the national legislation of one Contracting Party or by international conventions, existing or to be subscribed to by the Parties in the future, the investors of the other Contracting Party shall be entitled to avail themselves of the provisions that are the most favourable to them.
Article 9
Specific agreements
1. Investments made pursuant to a specific agreement concluded between one Contracting Party and investors of the other Party shall be covered by the provisions of this Agreement and by those of the specific agreement.
2. Each Contracting Party undertakes to ensure at all times that the commitments it has entered into vis-a-vis investors of the other Contracting Party shall be observed.
Article 10
Settlement of investment disputes.
1. Any investment dispute between an investor of one
Contracting Party and the other Contracting Party shall be notified in writing by the first party to take action. The notification shall be accompanied by a sufficiently detailed memorandum.
As far as possible, such dispute shall be settled amicably between the parties to the dispute or otherwise by conciliation between the Contracting Parties through diplomatic channels.
2. In the absence of an amicable settlement by direct agreement between the parties to the dispute or by conciliation through diplomatic channels within six months from the receipt of the notification, the dispute shall be submitted to international arbitration, any other legal remedy being excluded.
To this end, each Contracting Party agrees in advance and irrevocably to the settlement of any dispute by this type of arbitration. such consent implies that both Parties waive the right to demand that all domestic administrative or judiciary remedies be exhausted.
3. In case of international arbitration, the dispute shall be submitted for settlement by arbitration to one of the hereinafter mentioned organizations, at the option of the investor :
- the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (I.C.S.I.D.), set up by the Convention of the Settlement of Investment Disputes between Stateq and Nationals of other States, opened for signature at Washington on March 18, 1965, when each State party to this Agreement has become a party to the said Convention.
As long as this requirement is not met, each Contracting Party agrees that the dispute shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the provisions of the additional facility of the I.C.S.I.D.;
- the Arbitral Court of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris;
- the Arbitration Institute of the Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm.
If the arbitration procedure has been introducedt upon the initi4tive of a Contracting Party, this Party shall request the investor involved in writing to designate the arbitration organization to which the dispute shall be referred.
4. At any stage of the arbitration proceedings or of the execution of an arbitral award, none of the Contracting Parties involved in Q dispute shall be entitled to raise as an objection the fact that the investor who is the opponent party in the dispute has received compensation totally or partly covering his losses pursuant to an insurance policy or to the guarantee provided for in Article 7 of this Agreement.
5. The arbitral tribunal shall decide on the basis of:
- the national law, including the rules relating to conflicts of law of the Contracting Party involved in the dispute in whose territory the investment has been made;
- the provisions of this Agreement;
- the terms of the specific agreement which may have been entered into regarding the investment;
- the principles of international law.
6. The arbitral awards shall be final and binding on the parties to the dispute. Each Contracting Party undertakes to execute the awards in accordance with its national legislation.
Article 11
Most favoures nation
In all matters relating to the treatment of investments the investors of each Contracting Party shall enjoy most-favoured-nation treatment in the territory of the other Party.
Article 12
Disputes between the contracting parties relating to the interpretation or application of this agreement
1. Any dispute relating to the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall be settled as far as possibly through diplomatic channels.
2. In the absence of a settlement through diplomatic channels, the dispute shall be submitted to a joint commission consisting of representatives of the two Parties; this commission shall convene without undue delay at the request of the first party to take action.
3. If the joint commission cannot settle the dispute, the latter shall be submitted, at the request of either Contracting Party, to an arbitration court set up as follows for each individual case:
Each Contracting Party shall appoint one arbitrator within a period of two months from the date on which either Contracting Party has informed the other Party of its intention to submit the dispute to arbitration. Within a period of two months following their appointment, these two arbitrators shall appoint by mutual agreement a national of a third State as chairman of the arbitration court.
If these time-limits have not been complied with, either Contracting Party shall request the President of the International Court of Justice to make the necessary appointment(s).
If the President of the International Court of Justice is a national of either Contracting Party or of a State with which one of the Contracting Parties has no diplomatic relations or if, for any other reason, he cannot exercise this function, the Vice-President of the International Court of Justice shall be requested to make the appointment(s).
4. The court thus constituted shall determine its own rules of procedure. Its decisions shall be taken by a majority of the votes; they shall be final and binding on the Contracting Parties.
5. Each Contracting Party shall bear the costs resulting from the appointment of its arbitrator. The expenses in connection with the appointment of the third arbitrator and the administrative costs of the court shall be borne equally by the Contracting Parties.
Article 13
Entry into force and duration
1. This Agreement shall enter into force one month after the date of exchange of the instruments of ratification by the Contracting Parties. The Agreement shall remain in force for a period of ten years.
Unless notice of termination is given by either Contracting Party at least six months before the expiry of its period of validity, this Agreement shall be tacitly extended for a further period of ten years, it being understood that each Contracting Party reserves the right to terminate the Agreement by notification given at least six months before the date of expiry of the current period of validity.
2. Investments made prior to the date of termination of this Agreement shall be covered by this Agreement for a period of ten years from the date of termination.
In witness whereof, the undersigned representatives, duly authorized thereto by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.
Done in Nicosia on this 26th day of February 1991 in two originals in the English language.
For the Belgo-Luxemburg Economic Union : For the Government of the Republic of Cyprus :
R. Urban G. Syrimis
Minister of Foreign Trade. Minister of Finance.
26 February 1991
Excellency,
With reference to the Agreement between the Belgo-Luxemburg Economic Union and the Republic of Cyprus on the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments, I have the honour to state that it is An understanding between the Contracting Parties that this Agreement shall also apply to investments made before its entry into force by investors of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party in accordance with the latter's laws and regulations.
Please let me have your confirmation that the above correctly sets out the understanding between the two Parties.
Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.
H.E. Mr. G. Syrimis, R. Urban,
Minister of Finance Minister of Foreign Trade
26 February 1991
Excellency,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated February 26, 1991 which reads as follows:
"With reference to the Agreement between the Belgo-Luxemburg Economic Union and the Republic of Cyprus on the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments, I have the honour to state that it is an understanding between the Contracting Parties that this Agreement shall also apply to investments made before its entry into force by investors of one Contracting Party in the territory of the other Contracting Party in accordance with the latter's laws and reaulations.
Please let me have your confirmation that the above correctly sets out the understanding between the two Parties. »
I confirm the above understanding between the two Parties.
Accept, Excellency, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration.
H.E. Mr. R. Urbain, G. Syrimis,
Minister of Foreingn Trade Minister of Finance
Agreement between the Belgian Economic Union and the Republic of Cyprus concerning mutual encouragement and protection of investments and exchange of letters
The Government of the Kingdom of Belgium, acting both on its behalf and on the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, under existing agreements,
and
Government of the Republic of Cyprus
Desirous of strengthening their economic cooperation by creating favourable conditions for the realization of investments by nationals of one of the Contracting Parties in the territory of the other Contracting Party,
The following agreed:
Article 1
Definitions
For the purposes of this Agreement,
1. the term "investors" means
(a) "nationals", that is, any natural person who, according to the laws of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Republic of Cyprus, is a citizen of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Republic of Cyprus, respectively;
(b) "societies", that is, any legal entity incorporated in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Republic of Cyprus and having its head office in the territory of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Republic of Cyprus respectively.
2. the term "investments" means any element of any asset and any direct or indirect contribution in cash, in kind or in services, invested or reinvested in any sector of economic activity, whatever it is.
These include, but are not limited to, investment in the meaning of this Agreement:
(a) movable and immovable property and other real rights such as mortgages, privileges, leases, usufructs and similar rights;
(b) shares, social shares and other forms of participation, whether minority or indirect, in companies incorporated in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties
(c) obligations, receivables and rights to all benefits of economic value;
(d) copyright, industrial property rights, technical procedures, names filed and the trade fund;
(e) concessions of public or contractual law, including those relating to prospecting, development, extraction or exploitation of natural resources;
as long as these assets, at the time of their investment:
(i) the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg shall be invested in accordance with the laws and regulations in force;
(ii) in the Republic of Cyprus are invested according to the laws, regulations and any written authorizations that may be required.
Any change in the form in which the assets have been invested will not affect their nature of investments provided that this change is not contrary to the possible approval that should be issued in respect of the property originally invested.
3. the term "income" means the amounts generated by an investment, and in particular, but not exclusively, the profits, interest, capital increments, dividends, royalties or allowances.
Article 2
Investment promotion
1. Each Contracting Party shall encourage investment in its territory by investors of the other Contracting Party and admit such investments in accordance with its legislation.
2. In particular, each Contracting Party will authorize the conclusion and execution of licence contracts and trade, administrative or technical assistance agreements, provided that such activities have a relationship with investments.
Article 3
Investment protection
1. All direct or indirect investments made by investors of one of the Contracting Parties shall enjoy fair and equitable treatment in the territory of the other Contracting Party.
2. Subject to the measures necessary for the maintenance of public order, such investments shall enjoy constant protection and security, i.e. excluding any unjustified or discriminatory measures that may hinder, in law or in fact, their management, maintenance, use, possession or liquidation.
3. The treatment and protection defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 are at least equal to those enjoyed by investors of a third State and are in no way less favourable than those recognized by international law.
4. However, this treatment and protection do not extend to the privileges that a Contracting Party grants to investors of a third State, by virtue of its participation or association in a free trade zone a customs union, a common market or any other form of regional economic organizations.
5. This Agreement does not apply to privileges granted by a Contracting Party to a third State under an agreement to avoid double taxation or under any other tax treaty.
Article 4
Custodial and restrictive measures
1. Each of the Contracting Parties undertakes not to take any measures of expropriation or nationalization or any other measure whose effect is to directly or indirectly dispossess the investors of the other Contracting Party of their investments in its territory.
2. If the requirements of public utility, security or national interest justify a derogation from paragraph 1, the following conditions must be met
(a) measures shall be taken by law;
(b) they are neither discriminatory nor contrary to a specific commitment;
(c) they have provisions that provide for fair and effective compensation.
3. The amount of compensation will correspond to the real value of the investments concerned on the day before the measures were taken or made public.
Compensation shall be paid in the currency of the State of which the investor is a citizen or in any other convertible currency. They will be paid without undue delay and freely transferable. They will be intertwined at the normal commercial rate in case of payment delay exceeding one month from the date of their fixation.
4. Investors of one of the Contracting Parties whose investments would have suffered losses due to war or other armed conflict, revolution, state of national emergency or revolt in the territory of the other Contracting Party shall, on the part of the other Contracting Party, benefit from at least equal treatment to that granted to investors of the most favoured nation in respect of restitution, compensation or compensation.
5. For substances regulated by this Article, each Contracting Party shall grant investors of the other Party at least equal treatment to the one it reserves in its territory to investors of the most favoured nation. Such treatment would in no way be less favourable than that recognized by international law.
Article 5
Transfers
1. Each Contracting Party, in the territory of which investments have been made by investors of the other Contracting Party, grants these investors the free transfer of their liquid assets, including:
(a) income from investments including profits, interest, capital income, dividends, royalties;
(b) amounts required for the reimbursement of regularly contracted borrowings;
(c) the proceeds of debt collection, the total or partial liquidation of investments, including surplus-values or increases in the capital invested;
(d) compensation paid pursuant to section 4;
(e) royalties and other payments arising from licence fees and commercial, administrative or technical assistance.
2. Nationals of each of the Contracting Parties authorized to work for an investment approved in the territory of the other Contracting Party are also authorized to transfer an appropriate quotity of their remuneration to their countries of origin.
3. Each of the Contracting Parties shall issue the necessary authorizations to ensure without undue delay the execution of transfers, without any other charges than customary taxes and fees. The guarantees provided by this Article shall be at least equal to those granted in similar cases to the investors of the most favoured nation.
Article 6
Exchange rate
1. The transfers referred to in Articles 4 and 5 of this Agreement shall be made:
(a) at applicable exchange rates on the date of such transfers.
(b) in accordance with the foreign exchange regulations in force in the State in which the investment was made.
2. These rates will in no way be less favourable than those granted to investors in the most-favoured nation, including by virtue of specific commitments, provided for in any agreements or arrangements made with respect to investment protection.
3. In all cases, the rates applied will be fair and fair.
Article 7
Subrogation
1. If one of the Contracting Parties or a public body of the Contracting Party pays compensation to its own investors under a particular investment guarantee, the other Contracting Party recognizes that the rights of the indemnified investors have been transferred to the Contracting Party or to the public body concerned, in its capacity as an insurer.
In the same way that investors, and within the limits of the rights so transferred, the insurer may, by subrogation, exercise and assert the rights of such investors and their claims.
The subrogation of rights also extends to the transfer and arbitration rights referred to in Articles 5 and 10.
These rights may be exercised by the insurer within the limits of the quotity of the risk covered by the guarantee contract, and by the beneficiary investor of the guarantee, within the limits of the quotity of the risk not covered by the contract.
2. With respect to transferred rights, the other Contracting Party may apply to the insurer, which is subrogated in the rights of compensation investors, the obligations that are legally or contractually binding on the insurers.
Article 8
Applicable regulations
Where an investment issue is governed both by this Agreement and by the national legislation of one of the Contracting Parties or by existing international conventions or endorsed by the Parties in the future, investors of the other Contracting Party may avail themselves of the provisions that are most favourable to them.
Article 9
Special agreements
1. Investments that have been the subject of a particular agreement between one of the Contracting Parties and investors of the other Party shall be governed by the provisions of this Agreement and those of that particular agreement.
2. Each of the Contracting Parties shall at any time ensure compliance with its commitments to investors of the other Contracting Party.
Article 10
Investment differentends regulations
1. Any investment dispute between an investor of one of the Contracting Parties and the other Contracting Party shall be notified in writing by the most diligent party. This notification is accompanied by a sufficiently detailed aide-memoire.
To the extent possible, this dispute is amicable dispute between the parties to the dispute or default, by conciliation between the Contracting Parties through diplomatic channels.
2. In the absence of amicable settlement by direct arrangement between the parties to the dispute or by diplomatic conciliation within six months from the receipt of its notification, the dispute shall, with the exception of any other legal remedy, be subject to international arbitration.
To this end, each Contracting Party shall give its early and irrevocable consent to any dispute being submitted to that arbitration. This consent implies that they do not demand the exhaustion of domestic administrative or judicial remedies.
3. In case of recourse to international arbitration, the dispute shall be submitted to one of the following arbitration bodies, at the investor's option
- at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (C.I.R.D.I.), created by "the Convention for the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States", open for signature in Washington on 18 March 1965, when each State Party to this Agreement shall be a member of it.
As long as this condition is not fulfilled, each Contracting Party agrees that the dispute be submitted to arbitration in accordance with the Regulation of the Additional Mechanism of C. I.R. D. I.
- the Arbitration Tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce of Paris;
- at the Institute of Arbitration of the Chamber of Commerce of Stock- holm.
If the arbitration procedure is introduced at the initiative of a Contracting Party, the Contracting Party shall, in writing, invite the investor concerned to express his or her choice with respect to the arbitration body which shall be seized of the dispute
4. None of the Contracting Parties, a party to a dispute, shall raise any objection, at any stage of the arbitration proceedings or the execution of an arbitration award, as the investor, an opposing party to the dispute, would have received compensation covering all or part of its losses in the execution of an insurance policy or the guarantee provided for in Article 7 of this Agreement.
5. The arbitral tribunal shall decide on the basis of:
- the national law of the Contracting Party party to the dispute in the territory of which the investment was made, including the rules relating to conflicts and laws;
- the provisions of this Agreement;
- terms of the particular agreement that would have intervened on investment
- principles of international law.
6. Arbitration awards are final and binding for the parties to the dispute. Each Contracting Party undertakes to execute the award in accordance with its national legislation.
Article 11
Most-favoured nation
For all matters relating to the processing of investments, investors from each of the Contracting Parties shall, on the territory of the other Party, benefit from the treatment of the most favoured nation.
Article 12
Differends in the interpretation or application of the Agreement between Contracting Parties
1. Any dispute relating to the interpretation or application of this Accorc must be resolved, to the extent possible, through diplomatic channels.
2. If the dispute is not resolved by diplomatic means, the dispute shall be submitted to a joint commission composed of representatives of the two Parties; the Party shall meet at the request of the most diligent and unjustified Party.
3. If the joint commission cannot resolve the dispute, it shall be submitted, at the request of either of the Contracting Parties, to an arbitration procedure implemented, for each particular case, as follows:
Each Contracting Party shall designate an arbitrator within two months of the date on which one of the Contracting Parties has indicated to the other of its intention to submit the dispute to arbitration. Within two months of their designation, these two arbitrators shall jointly designate a national of a third State who shall be president of the college of arbitrators.
If these deadlines have not been observed, either Contracting Party shall invite the President of the International Court of Justice to proceed with the required nomination(s).
If the President of the International Court of Justice is a national of either Contracting Party or of a State with which one of the Contracting Parties does not maintain diplomatic relations, or if, for another reason, the Vice-President of the International Court of Justice shall be invited to make such appointment(s).
4. The college will set its own rules of procedure. Its decisions shall be taken by a majority vote; they shall be final and binding for Contracting Parties.
5. Each Contracting Party shall bear the costs associated with the designation of its arbitrator. The disbursements inherent in the designation of the third arbitrator and the operating costs of the college shall be borne by the Contracting Parties equally.
Article 13
Entry into force and duration
1. This Agreement shall enter into force one month from the date on which the Contracting Parties have exchanged their instruments of ratification.
It remains in force for a period of ten years.
Unless one of the Contracting Parties denounces it at least six months before the expiry of its validity period, it shall be automatically renewed for a further ten-year period, each Contracting Party reserves the right to denounce it by a notification made at least six months before the expiration date of the current validite period.
2. The investments made prior to the expiration date of this Agreement shall remain subject to it for a period of ten years to comp ter of that date.
In faith, the undersigned representatives, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement.
Made in Nicosia on 26 February 1991 in two originals in the English language.
For the Belgian Economic Union:
R. URBAIN,
Minister of Foreign Trade,
For the Government of the Republic of Cyprus:
G. SYRIMIS,
Minister of Finance
February 26, 1991.
Excellency,
Referring to the Agreement between the Belgian-Luxembourg Economic Union and the Republic of Cyprus concerning the mutual encouragement and protection of investments, I have the honour to confirm that it has been agreed between the Contracting Parties that this Agreement will also apply to investments made prior to its entry into force by investors of one of the Contracting Parties in the territory of the other Contracting Party in conformity with the legislation.
I should be grateful if you would confirm that the foregoing is in accordance with what was agreed between the two Parties.
Please accept, Excellency, the renewed assurance of my highest consideration.
R. Urban,
Minister of Foreign Trade.
February 26, 1991.
Excellency,
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated 26 February 1991, which reads as follows:
" Referring to the Agreement between the Belgian-Luxembourg Economic Union and the Republic of Cyprus concerning the mutual encouragement and protection of investments, I have the honour to confirm that it has been agreed between the Contracting Parties that this Agreement will also apply to investments made prior to its entry into force by investors of one of the Contracting Parties in the territory of the other Contracting Party in accordance with its legislation and regulations.
I should be grateful if you would confirm that the foregoing is in accordance with the agreement between the two Parties. "
I confirm that the foregoing is consistent with what was agreed between the two Parties.
Please accept, Excellency, the renewed assurance of my highest consideration.
G. Syrimis,
Minister of Finance.
Since the instruments of ratification have not been exchanged, this Agreement has not yet entered into force. A subsequent notice will be issued to mention the date of the exchange of instruments of ratification and the date of entry into force.
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