All nations should have clear-cut criteria and transparent procedures if they feel the need to shut out foreign investment in certain sectors for the sake of their national interests, Charles Heeter, board director of the U.S. Council for International Business, said Thursday.
Heeter's comment came a day after Japan advised U.K.-based The Children's Investment Fund to retract its plan to increase its stake in Electric Power Development Co., or J-Power, a key power provider, on national security grounds.
"The critical issue here is that there be (a) predictable, rigorous, transparent procedure that the government go through with strict criteria and focused on a single transaction," said Heeter, who attended a one-day Group of Eight summit for business chiefs in Tokyo.