04/29/09

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO MEMBERS - New WAIPA Statutes

The original 1995 WAIPA Statutes were reviewed, discussed and reformed by the present Steering Committee of WAIPA.

The WAIPA Steering Committee, Session of March 6, reached a consensus with respect to a proposed new form of Statutes. In order to be effective, the document needs to be voted by Member IPAs. The new WAIPA Statutes will be made available on-line, for your review, earlier next week.

Upcoming Events

WAIPA Events

UNCTAD-WAIPA Investment Conference, 4-7 May 2009, Geneva, Switzerland

This Investment Conference of WAIPA, coordinated by Unctad, is designed for investment promotion practitioners and for policy makers. Its focus is on issues that investment promotion agencies deal with, generally, including emerging challenges and opportunities for attracting and retaining FDI, particularly in light of the global economic crisis. It will include a High-level Session on Best Practices in Investment Policies, parallel events and networking opportunities. The Conference will take place on the occasion of UNCTAD's Investment, Enterprise and Development Commission. Participants are also invited to attend presentations and discussions on the recently conducted investment policy reviews of the Dominican Republic and of Nigeria. An update on the impact of the global economic crisis on FDI is planned for 4 May in the morning.

Please see the programme on: www.waipa.org. A list of hotels is available on the same website. Or contact: iif@unctad.org or Ms. Nisha Ramesh, e-mail: nisha.ramesh@unctad.org Tel: + 41-22-9174933.

WAIPA EU Regional Meeting, 26 May 2009, Madrid, Spain

The next WAIPA regional meeting will take place on 26th May 2009 at the INVEST IN SPAIN headquarters in Madrid (Calle Orense, 58, 3rd floor - Madrid).

The meeting's agenda, starting at 09:45, will be the following:

• Review of the issues dealt at the last Steering Committee meeting in Geneva, with special regard to the reform of WAIPA's statutes.
• Ongoing initiatives regarding the improvement of the European attractiveness for FDI
• Comments on the draft document "Why Europe" prepared by Invest in Spain as a proposal.
• Next steps.

The meeting will be followed by a Luncheon hosted by Mr. Javier Sanz, CEO of Invest in Spain. For further information, please contact the WAIPA Secretariat at: +41 22 797 26 63.

Other Events

Power Indaba 2009, 19-21 May 2009, Cape Town, South Africa

Power Indaba 2009 is an annual unique, executive two day meeting forum for ministerial delegations, high-level power executives, policymakers and international financiers. The conference will consist of four case study presentations and interactive panel discussions. Sessions are regionally focused on SADC; West and North Africa; East and Central Africa, to provide you with access to African decision makers and investment opportunities. The discussion panels for the regional discussions will be made up of ministers and CEOs from a variety of ministries and utilities across Africa.

The penultimate conference session will focus on accessing investment, from the perspective of the investor, and discussions will centre on aspects such as risk management and innovative solutions to investment challenges.

Event highlights: Network with Africa’s movers and shakers; Peer-to-peer networking opportunities not to be missed; Hear about the latest requirements, trends and insights from over 30 industry-expert speakers; Benchmark economic and investment policies for the power sector; Understand investors’ needs; Develop continental cooperation; Gain in-depth industry perspectives by meeting ministers and high-level government representatives at:

• Access Breakfasts: DRC and Nigeria
• Access Africa sessions: Central & East Africa, West & North Africa and SADC
• Access Investment session

The conference programme will feature over 30 industry-elite speakers including: Brian Dames, Chief Officer, Generation Business, Eskom, South Africa; Minister Wiliam Ngeleja, Tanzanian Ministry of Energy and Minerals; Minister Eugene H Shannon, Ministry of Lands,Mines & Energy, Liberia; Bello Suleiman, Executive Vice Chairman, Power Holding Company of Nigeria.

Housing and accommodation bookings for Power Indaba will be done by Incentives for Winners (Pty) Ltd. For any queries regarding bookings, please contact Maritha Kasner, Group Manager on Phone: +27 21 4195544, fax+27 21 421 0321, by email at maritha@winnerstours.co.za or register online at www.powerindaba.com

Report on past events

2nd Meeting of Trade and Investment Promotion Agencies and of Latin America and the Caribbean, 23-24 April 2009, San Salvador, El Salvador

“Infrastructure and services for trade and investment - key elements of competitiveness”

The first meeting of The Trade and Investment Promotion Agencies of Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Rio de Janeiro on December, 14 – 16, 2007 under the initiative of APEX-BRAZIL. This first meeting promoted a discussion about the importance and the necessity of inter-regional trade as a key element of economic growth in the region. In this context, El Salvador, through the Comisión Nacional de Promoción de Exportaciones e Inversiones – CONADEI (National Commission for the Promotion of Exports and Investments), which brings together the agencies EXPORTA El Salvador and PROESA, proposed to host a second meeting to discuss the issues related to the inter-regional trade, and in particular Infrastructure and Services for Trade and Investment, the Key Elements of Competitiveness. Challenges and opportunities in the region were tackled with regard to the infrastructure and services for trade facilitation. Trade promotion organizations from other regions were invited, primarily organizations of the Caribbean countries.

WAIPA Regional Workshop for Africa on “Promoting and Retaining Investment in Times of Economic Crisis”, 1-3 April 2009, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

This East African Regional Work Shop hosted by WAIPA Vice-President Mr. Emmanuel Ole-Naiko, Head of the Tanzanian Investment Center (TIC) in Dar Es Salaam exceeded the expectations of the joint-organizers, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA). The event took place at the convention facilities of the Kunduchi Hotel, outside of Dar Es Salaam, from the 1st to the 3rd of April, and counted on the presence of a total of 18 IPAs among which the East African agencies of Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Zanzibar and Tanzania, the host, the Central African’s Democratic Republic of Congo’s ANAPI, the West African countries of Senegal, Sierra Leone and Gambia were also present along with representatives from South African sub-national IPAs and Lesotho’s LNDC. A representative from SAGIA (Saudi Arabia) also participated. The event covered hands-on training by FDI Intelligence and Unctad and presentations from the Investment Climate Facility for Africa the East African Community (EAC) and the WAIPA Secretariat. The importance of this WAIPA East African event and the timeliness of the issues addressed in the trainings and the speeches were highlighted by WAIPA Vice-President in the local press. There was extensive local media coverage in both Swahili and English.

2009 WAIPA/UNCTAD Study Tour hosted by KOTRA, March 30th-April 3rd, Seoul, South Korea

The 2009 WAIPA/UNCTAD Study Tour hosted by KOTRA recently took place in Seoul, South Korea, from March 30th to April 3rd. This was an extraordinary opportunity for IPAs of nine countries (Afghanistan, Dominican Republic, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Solomon Islands, Egypt, New Zealand and Pakistan) to learn from experienced IPAs worldwide.

The objectives of the Study Tour were to exchange best practices and experiences in investment promotion and to study the whole range of activities considered crucial in the fast moving business of investment promotion.

Those objectives were fully met through different lectures and open discussions about the role and function of KOTRA and Invest Korea and the introduction of the Foreign Investment System at KOTRA. The nine professionals from IPAs have also experienced different visits to Incheon Free Economic Zone and Foreign-Invested Companies in Korea as well as local Government Agency (Ulsan City) and Industrial Site Tour (Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hyundai Motors).

In the Study Tour Evaluation Questionnaire, the training was considered as an exceptional learning experience for all the participants. The event was also covered in the local Korean press.

2nd Regional Meeting of South American IPAs, 25-26 March 2009, Medellin, Colombia

The 2nd WAIPA Regional Meeting of South American IPAs took place in Medellin, Colombia, following the 1st WAIPA Regional Meeting of South America of August 28, 2008. This event was held on March 25th and 26th prior to another great summit the city then held: the 50th General Assembly of the Inter American Development Bank (IBD). The event was organized by Agencia de Cooperacion y Inversiones de Medellin y Area Metropolitana (ACI) and under the responsibility of WAIPA Regional Director for South America, ProsperAr, presided by Dr. Beatriz Nofal.

The event took place at the convention facilities of the Medellin Botanical Gardens and gathered 18 IPAs from South America and one representative from the Caribbean, the Cayman Islands Investment Bureau. This 2nd WAIPA Regional Meeting of South America was the ideal space to achieve a promotion strategy for South America as a foreign direct investment destination. WAIPA President Alessandro Teixeira was present for the final session of the debate of the document Why South America, a joint effort of ProsperAr, Argentina, ApexBrasil and Pro-Export of Colombia.

On Wednesday March 25 the Medellin Municipality shared their experience in terms of image building and social policies that have helped put Medellin back into the investment map. ACI as one WAIPA sub-national members from Colombia represents nowadays a valuable and replicable model for its Latin American sub-national IPA peers. By sharing its experience ACI contributed to WAIPA’s objective of “knowledge sharing” and “exchange of best practices”. On Thursday March 26 a specialized work day was conducted by Henry Loewendahl of FDI Intelligence. The greatest objective this event achieved, however, was to establish a strategy that one hopes should allowed the increase flow of investments to the whole South American region and the preparation, consolidation of a promotional document never before attempted. Dr. Beatriz Nofal, WAIPA Regional Director for South America is to be credited for revealing the strengths and attractiveness of the region as a whole and the systematic gathering of relevant information contained in the soon to be published Why South America guide. The event got extensive coverage in the local Colombian press.