02/03/06
New Premises of the WAIPA Secretariat
The WAIPA Secretariat would like to inform you that as of 1 January 2006, WAIPA is located in new premises, in the International Environment House 2, situated, 9 chemin de Balexert, 1219 Châtelaine-Geneva, Switzerland. New telephone and fax numbers will be communicated to you in the next issue of the newsflash, to be sent out mid-February.
The new email address of the Association is: info@waipa.org.
Mrs. Abel, Assistant, and Mrs. Campanelli, WAIPA Administrator, can be reached at the following email addresses: isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org and karine.campanelli@waipa.org.
Welcome to the first WAIPA Associated Member!
We are pleased to announce that African Access International from South Africa has become member of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies. This the first Associated Member of the Association.
www.waipa.org
Do You Want to Host a WAIPA Workshop?
In order to plan the WAIPA workshop schedule 2006, we would be very grateful if WAIPA members, interested in specific topics of workshops, could send their proposals to the WAIPA Secretariat. Also, WAIPA members who are interested in hosting such workshops during the year 2006 are kindly requested to indicate this to the WAIPA secretariat, at the following e-mail address: info@waipa.org
The WAIPA World Investment Conference 2006, 8-9 March 2006, Geneva, Switzerland
The eleventh session of the WAIPA World Investment Conference 2006 will take place in Geneva , Switzerland , on 8-9 March 2006, in parallel with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues.
The theme of the conference will be: "What Tomorrow Brings: The rise of New Players and New Forms of FDI". The official opening session will start at 10:00 , on 8 March 2006 . Three plenary sessions will take the form of interactive debates between panelists and the audience and moderated by a well-known media person. They will discuss "New Actors take the Stage, Growing Importance of Developing Countries in FDI" and "New Forms and New Methods of FDI". The first session, a joint high-level session with the UNCTAD Commission, entitled "What tomorrow brings: More Competition! More Benefits?", will be chaired by the Chairperson of the Commission.
At the end of the first day, the 8th of March, a special interactive session, entitled "Meet the consultants", will be organized between the audience and the consultants. And on Thursday 9 March, from 14:30 to 15:30 , before the topical workshops, a session will be devoted to presentations of projects, research, conferences and other activities by WAIPA partners and WAIPA friends. Topical workshops, sponsored by partners of WAIPA, will follow. An IBM-PLI workshop on "Why and How should IPAs Benchmark their Locations?", a MIGA workshop on "Effective Investor Outreach: New Sectors, New Approaches", an UNCTAD workshop on "Improving Governance in Investment Promotion, Tools and Instruments", as well as a WAIPA workshop on "Best Practices in Promoting New Forms of FDI: Case Studies in the US" led by AWS Corporation will be organized.
WAIPA, in collaboration with MIGA, will award 3 member IPAs in recognition of their best practices in the following subject: "Meeting Investor Information Needs". MIGA will present the Awards on 8 March, during the Conference and before the Gala Dinner, where the trophies will be awarded.
For more information and registration, please contact Mrs. Isa-Beatrice Abel at the WAIPA Secretariat: isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org
Topical Workshops on 9 March 2006
IBM-PLI Workshop: "Why and How should IPAs Benchmark their Locations?", from 16:00 to 18:30, room E-3025
Understanding the value proposition of the IPA's location is becoming more
and more important given the increasing competition for FDI worldwide. The
objective of this workshop is twofold. Firstly, to demonstrate how
important it is for an IPA to benchmark its location against competitors
for each particular target sector. Secondly, to show how to perform
benchmarking from an investor's point of view. IBM-PLI will explain in
detail which methodology investors are using to compare locations as
options for their future business operations, and demonstrate how IPAs can
use that same methodology to identify their strongest value propositions
and successfully market those to prospective investors. IBM-PLI will
present real life case examples from IPAs around the world that are using
this benchmarking approach and are succeeding in winning new investment
into their region as a result of it.
Roel Spee, Head, and Amaya Manrique from IBM-PLI will run the workshop.
Places are limited to 25 participants on a first come first served basis.
MIGA Best Practice Workshop: " Effective Investor Outreach: Customizing
Approaches", from 14:00 to 16:00, room XXV
How do you leverage your location brand in a most targeted way?
What is the difference between expensive and efficient outreach tools? What
works and what doesn't? Is there a one size-fits-all for all sectors and
business environments? How do you assess the impact of outreach activities? What
conversion rates to use for each outreach activity? Who pays the bill of the
location's outreach? These questions and any other questions you may raise will
be the focus of two case study presentations: Tanzania's successful tourism
investor forum, and the highly-targeted meeting strategy for the manufacturing
sector put in place by Croatia. Presented by the CEOs of the respective IPAs and
moderated by David Bridgman, Operations Team Manager from MIGA and Dermot
Coffey, Manager of the European Investor Outreach Program (EIOP). The MIGA
workshop will illustrate how all IPAs can conduct effective outreach regardless
of their size, budget, or business climate.
Places are limited to 50 participants on a first come first served basis.
UNCTAD Workshop: "Improving Governance in Investment Promotion, Tools and Instruments", from 16:00 to 18:00, room E-3056/58
An overview will be given on issues related to governance in investment promotion, including practices, tools and instruments that can help Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) improve transparency and efficiency of their operations. Special attention will be devoted to the use of the Internet, improvement of client services and the importance of policy advocacy by IPAs. Paul Wessendorp, UNCTAD, Frank Grozel, UNCTAD and Maggie Kigozi, Executive Director of Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) will run the workshop.
Places are limited to 25 participants on a first come first served basis.
WAIPA Workshop: “Best Practices in Promoting New Forms of FDI: Case Studies in the US”, from 16:00 to 18:30, room XXII
AWS Corporation has provided investment promotion marketing services to
regional and national government organizations for over 10 years. Using
the lessons learned from this experience, Steve Lanier, Managing Director
of AWS, will discuss best practices in promoting FDI by examining several
case studies from a variety of investment types. Specific case study types will include greenfield, joint venture partnerships, sales offices and technical support centers. In addition to discussing the general macro level strategy used to promote these investments, Mr. Lanier will also examine the specific marketing methods that are most effective in identifying companies with investment projects.
Places are limited to 25 participants on a first come first served basis.
For further information on workshops, please contact Mrs. Isa-Beatrice Abel, at: isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org
Big Success for the Site Visit in Vacheron Constantin on 10 March 2006!
The site visit which will be organized after the WAIPA World Investment Conference, on 10 March 2006, from 9:00 am to 12:30, is already full.
Vacheron Constantin celebrates its 250th anniversary in 2005. It is in fact the world’s oldest watch Manufacture to have enjoyed uninterrupted activity since its founding in 1755.
Vacheron Constantin currently employs around 350 people around the world, including 250 in Switzerland. A limited number of exceptional watches are produced with high added value: some 15,000 per year, a figure that obviously favours quality over any other considerations. In addition to developing and crafting all its “complication” models, Vacheron Constantin also decorates all its proprietary movements: bevelling the bridges, drawing out the flanks with file strokes, and individually polishing the screws are all part of the operations consistently performed before the meticulous process of assembling the parts one by one.
For information on the programme of the visit, please contact Mrs. Isa-Beatrice Abel at: isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org
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