After the legal framework that underpinned the Bilateral Investment Treaties (TBIs) was denounced in May 2017, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry presented the new models to sign treaties between countries called Bilateral Investment Agreements (BITs). They seek to stimulate foreign investment and, at the same time, respect the National Constitution and the interests of the country. The incorporation of an own controversy resolution mechanism located geographically in Latin America stands out.

The TBIs are agreements that contain protection standards for foreign investors in the country where they operate. They have governed since 1965 and include international arbitration as mechanisms to resolve disputes between parts. In May 2017, the government of Rafael Correa (2006-2017) decided to end 16 of the 30 TBIs signed by the country, considering that the agreements contradicted Article 422 of the 2008 Constitution. That article states that Ecuador can not sign a international treaty with a controversy resolution mechanism geographically based outside Latin America.

As a result of the economic stagnation and the need for investments, the Lenín Moreno administration stimulated the creation of the new Bilateral Investment Agreements. Unlike TBIs, they seek to create agreements between parts that are not harmful to the country, while at the same time they generate a framework of balance between rights and obligations between the state and investors.

This new mechanism will be the normative framework for the renegotiation of 16 agreements repealed by Correa during his last term. In that sense, the current administration will renegotiate with the following countries: Italy, Bolivia, Peru, Spain, the United States, Canada, Argentina, Venezuela, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Chile, Switzerland, China, Germany and Great Britain and Ireland from North.