01/02/07

 

Do You Want to Host a WAIPA Workshop?

WAIPA is currently planning its workshop schedule for 2007. The topics of the workshops are determined through feed-back from WAIPA members. We are looking forward to receiving your proposals. Also, WAIPA members who are interested in hosting such workshops during the year 2007 are kindly requested to indicate this to the WAIPA secretariat, at the following e-mail addresses : karine.campanelli@waipa.org or isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org

The WAIPA World Investment Conference 2007, 8-9 March 2007, Geneva , Switzerland

The theme of the twelfth WAIPA World Investment Conference 2007 is The new sources of FDI: emerging economies on the rise . The conference will take place on 8-9 March 2007 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva , Switzerland .

Mr. Driss Jettou, Prime Minister of Morocco, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Mrs . Ma, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce of China and Mr. Victor Chu, Chairman of the First Eastern Investment Group in Hong Kong will participate, as keynote speakers, in the opening session which is a joint high-level session with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues to be held on Thursday 8 March in the afternoon. The official opening session will be followed, on the 9 th of March, by three sessions held in parallel. Each session will take the form of interactive debates between the panelists and the audience, and will discuss in depth the topics tackled in the opening session: South-South FDI : the new source of development financing, Globalization and the new protectionism: is there a backlash against FDI in the making? and FDI and natural resources: new players on the scene.

A special interactive session between the audience and the consultants, entitled "Meet the consultants", will be organized on the 9th of March. S everal workshops organized in collaboration with WAIPA partners will follow the conference.

Please see the preliminary programme on www.waipa.org .

The WAIPA Conference is the world's largest international gathering of IPAs facilitating the exchange of best practices in foreign investment promotion and capacity building. Approximately 300 delegates from 90 countries attended the last WAIPA Conference, among them heads of investment promotion agencies, officials of international organisations, representatives of the private sector and the academia. The programme of the WAIPA World Investment Conference 2007 has been designed to discuss strategic issues in investment promotion and the management of investment promotion agencies.

For registration, please contact Mrs. Beatrice Abel at the WAIPA Secretariat: Isa-Beatrice.Abel@waipa.org

Results of the study on Measuring the Efficiency of Investment Promotion Agencies now available

Last year, in collaboration with the Department of Economic Policy and Industrial Economics of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, WAIPA undertook a survey among its members as follow-up to the study “Investment Promotion at a Glance” conducted in 1999, which gave valuable insights into the work and structure of IPAs. This new survey aim ed to examine several issues in depth which have become important over the last years, focusing on a comparison of the overall efficiency of IPAs.

The r esults of the survey are now available and will be posted soon on the WAIPA website.

A summary of the results was edited in the last issue of the WAIPA Newsletter, in December 2006, available as well on the WAIPA website.

Please see: www.waipa.org

PUBLICATION: UNCTAD Investment Brief No. 1, 2007

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT SURGED AGAIN IN 2006

Global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) reached their second highest level ever in 2006, reaching $1.2 trillion. According to new UNCTAD estimates, significant growth was recorded in FDI inflows to developed, developing as well as transition economies. The United States attracted the largest capital inflows, followed by the United Kingdom and France . Record levels were reached in Africa , Asia and in South-East Europe and the CIS.

The full Investment Brief is available on www.waipa.org