This annual report reviews recent developments in international direct investment, includes recent statistics and highlights policy responses that will help countries reap the full benefits of investment.  This edition's special focus is on legal and policy issues arising from international investment agreements.  The articles in this section investigate novel features of recent bilateral investment treaties; options for improving the system of investor-state dispute settlement; and the consolidation of claims as an avenue for improving investment arbitration.   Other articles in this volume cover how new technologies are a force advancing the closer integration of national economies;  the challenges and opportunities for policy makers that arise from international investor participation in infrastructure; recent evidence of source (or "home") country benefits of outward direct investment; and the role of the OECD peer review process in building investment policy capacity.