06/04/05

"The first Saudi Woman's Investment Symposium; Highlighting Investment and Investment Opportunities in Saudi Arabia", Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 7-9 May 2005

The Professionals Institute (www.professionals.edu.sa) and Ace Events are planning to hold an Investment Symposium targeting Saudi Woman under the working title “The First Saudi Woman’s Investment Symposium; Highlighting Investment and Investment Opportunities in Saudi Arabia" to be held in Riyadh on 7-9th May 2005 at Nayyara hall under the patronage of HRH AL Johara AL Ibrahim, wife of His Royal Highness King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz and duplicated in Jeddah on 14-16th May 2005 at the Hilton Hotel under the patronage of HRH Princess Sarah Al Angari, wife of Prince Abdul Mageed Bin Abdul Aziz, governor of the Mecca region.
The three-day symposium aims to introduce Saudi women to the world of investment and investment vehicles. A series of presentations and workshops are being organized in cooperation with the Saudi Investment Authority (SAGIA). The first day will focus on educational lectures on investment, presented by speakers from the Suleiman Al Olayan School of Business AUB, local academics renowned for their expertise in investment, well known investors and international investment firms. The second and third day seek to highlight the opportunities open to Saudi woman.

For more information and registration, please see: http://www.swis.org.sa

Investment Policy Roundtable in Entebbe,
Uganda, 25-26 May 2005

NEPAD and OECD are organizing an Investment Policy Roundtable in Entebbe, Uganda on 25-26 May 2005, named "Investment for African Development: Making it Happen". This event, which is sponsored by the Government of Uganda, is one of the first undertakings under the joint OECD/NEPAD Action Plan on Investment that was agreed between the two organizations at the Global Forum on Investment in Johannesburg, November 2003.
The Roundtable is highly relevant to investment promotion agencies, in Africa and beyond. The first part of the event will focus on the quality of the investment climate of African countries and the experiences with regulatory approaches to FDI - discussions that will benefit immensely from the strong participation of investment promoters. The second part will go into more detail with the issue of private involvement in infrastructure, which figures ever higher on the agenda of African countries and intergovernmental forums. This part of the event will involve a number of private sector participants and international financial institutions alongside with investment promoters and government representatives.

More details can be obtained from the conference website, which can be accessed from www.oecd.org/daf/investment, or from Denis Massart at the OECD Secretariat: denis.massart@oecd.org; tel.: ++33 1 45 24 14 82.

Roundtable Conference for IPAs, 9th China International Fair on Investment and Trade,
Xiamen, China, 8-11 September 2005

WAIPA and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) will jointly sponsor an International Roundtable Conference for investment promotion agencies (IPAs) during the 9th China International Fair on Investment and Trade (CIFIT), which is to be held from 8 to 11 September 2005 in Xiamen, South East China. The subject of the Conference will be operational mechanisms and core functions of IPAs. An exhibition area especially designed for WAIPA members will be set up in the CIFIT exhibition hall.
With the objective of promoting inward and outward investment, CIFIT is the biggest international event held in China, featuring investment opportunities in the country. Last year, over 50,000 people participated in CIFIT, including Chinese and foreign high-level officials, senior business executives, representatives from international organizations, IPAs and business associations.
In order to support WAIPA members to participate in CIFIT and to strengthen WAIPA’s international investment promotion activities, MOFCOM will provide 25 free booths, especially for IPAs from developing countries; 75 half-price booths (900 USD/3X3m) will be offered to other WAIPA members and their respective domestic enterprises. Given the limited numbers of booths available, registration will be on first come first served basis.

For more information about CIFIT, please contact:
• Investment Promotion Agency Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China
Phone: 86-10-65198157 or 86-10-65198158, Fax: 86-10-65198158
• Operational Department of the Organizing Committee of CIFIT
Contact person: Mr. Huang, Ms. Zhao
Phone: 86-592-2669857 or 86-592-2669858, Fax: 86-592-2669861
Email: allan@chinafair.org.cn, ciipc81@chinafair.org.cn

Exchange of Best Practices

A developing country IPA, member of WAIPA, is looking for other investment promotion agencies to exchange experience with respect to the implementation of ISO 9000. IPAs that are interested in sharing can contact the WAIPA Secretariat.

Please contact Karine Campanelli: karine.campanelli@unctad.org

Corporate India Displays Robust Growth

India Inc continues to show positive growth signs for the second consecutive year in 2004-05, according to an ASCON survey carried out by the Associations Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with 39 sectors reporting excellent growth in sales as against 35 sectors in 2003-04. India is clearly the market to be in for more and more international travel companies as the business prospects are huge. The outbound traffic for 2004 has been estimated at 6.2m by tourism officials, while the inbound traffic is pegged at 3.3m, which collectively translates into an economic opportunity of US$ 8-10bn, and a healthy 12-15% growth is projected for 2005. In this respect it should be noted that Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways, has expressed interest in investing in a domestic Indian airline.

For more information, please see: http://ibef.org/attachment/India_connect.pdf