what does icsid stand for and what does it do?

It stands for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and is an institution that facilitates and provides a procedural framework for the arbitration of disputes between investors and sovereign states. The ICSID Convention establishes an autonomous and self-contained system for the conduct of such proceedings.

what investors can use icsid and the convention to arbitrate their dispute with a state?

Investors who meet the essential jurisdictional conditions for access to arbitration under the ICSID Convention may resort to ICSID. Certain criteria must be satisfied: the dispute must be between an ICSID Contracting State and an individual or company that qualifies as a national of another ICSID Contracting State, the legal dispute must arise directly out of an investment, and the disputing parties must have consented in writing to the submission of their dispute to ICSID arbitration.

what is the advantage of using icsid?

Arbitration under the ICSID Convention is entirely voluntary, but once the parties have given their consent, neither may unilaterally withdraw it. Moreover, an arbitral award rendered under the Convention may not be set aside by the courts of any Contracting State, and is only subject to the post-award remedies provided for in the Convention. For investors, it is often the only recourse against the foreign country in which they invested.