01/06/05

Launch of Regional FDI Promotion Center for the Balkans, 3 June 2005 in Novi Sad, Serbia & Montenegro

The FDI Promotion Center, a hands-on learning website for IPAs, building on the MIGA Investment Promotion Toolkit, is launching its first regionally customized version in the Balkans. Elaborated in cooperation with the Vojvodina Investment Promotion Fund (VIP), the regional version of the FDI Promotion Center in Serbian will incorporate case studies and best practices from the region. The English version of the FDI Promotion Center has over 2,500 users from 219 IPAs worldwide. Forthcoming in 2005 are regional versions in Russian and Arabic.
The launch event will be held on June 3 in Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro, and will feature senior specialists from MIGA and the World Bank, as well as local IPAs that will share their experiences in attracting FDI.

For more information, please see: www.vip.org.yu
To confirm your participation and receive assistance with your travel arrangements please contact: Ms. Smilja Krajinovic at Tel. +381 (021) 472.19.20 or by email at: smilja.krajinovic@vip.org.yu

La Baule, 3rd World Investment Conference on 30 June and July 1st, 2005: only 4 weeks before the event! - Special rate for WAIPA members

The 2005 edition is focused on the theme: “From Knowledge to Value”. It will be opened through video-conference by H.E. Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister of Japan. Japan will be the special guest of honour as well as guests from European countries (Czech Republic and Finland) and various regions such as Catalonia from Spain, West Midlands from UK and Wielkopolska from Poland.
La Baule is a platform to bring together everyone who has an interest in the attractiveness and competitiveness of Europe, including business executives as well as specialists, such as national and regional development agencies and representatives of EU member States, the European Commission and the European Parliament. La Baule will take place at a very special juncture: implementation of the Lisbon agenda, announcement of new financial outlook, reform of the grants allocated by the States and presentation of the industrial policies directions. Once a year, during La Baule Conference, some 700 high-level international leaders meet and exchange views, experiences and good practices in order to achieve tangible results by reaching functional answers and decisions on win/win projects. A special workshop is organized this year by WAIPA: “Special WAIPA: IPA, an efficient policy advocacy” on June 30

The conference that will be held in La Baule city in France on its western coast.
To know more about the programme and to take part in World Investment Conference on June 30 and July 1st, as a WAIPA member with a special rate, please see: www.labaule2005.org
To register, please fill in the form : www.labaule2005.org/en/registration/home.asp

INSME-CFI International Training on “Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer”, 5-8 July 2005, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The "Management of Innovation and Technology Transfer" is an intensive training course jointly organised by the International Network for small and medium enterprises (INSME) with the Federal Investment Council of Argentina (CFI), which offers insightful knowledge on topics such as: the marketing of innovation; the management of the contractual process of technology transfer; the financing of the innovation projects; the fostering of innovation in small and medium scale industries; the methodology to follow for choosing the most suitable technology so as to provide a competitive edge in the market; the right trade-off between in-house technology development and the technology search/purchase in the market. The training course’s main target is the staff of intermediary organisations dealing with innovation and technology transfer to SMEs from Latin America and at international level. Its approach is both theoretical and practical and knowledge is based on international experiences.
Organisations which could directly benefit from the training programme are: Institutes of Technology or R&D agencies; Technology Liaison Offices; Technological enterprises; Scientific Laboratories of large Companies; Innovation and Knowledge Centres; Science and Technology Parks; Business Incubators; selected Development Banks; Venture Capital Funds; Entrepreneurs and SME Associations; Trade Associations; Chambers of Commerce; Networks or consortia of BSO; Ministries of Industry (Department of SMEs, etc) or of Science and Technology; Public agencies of scope.

The training will be held in Spanish with English interpretation. A special price has been granted for IPAs coming from developing countries.

For information and registration, please visit: www.insme.org and contact us at secretariat@insme.org
Deadline for registration: June 15.

UNCTAD / WAIPA Training Workshop on IPA Policy Advocacy, 11 to 13 July 2005, Nairobi, Kenya

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) are organizing a training workshop on Policy Advocacy for IPAs from Africa, to be held on 11 to 13 July 2005, at the Fairview Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. This workshop is a component of a project executed by UNCTAD, and sponsored by the United Nations Development Account. The objective of the workshop is to familiarize investment promotion professionals with the basic concepts of policy advocacy, the tools that IPAs can apply to advocate for changes in investment laws, regulations and policies and the strategic deployment of those tools to effect changes in the investment environment. The workshop begins with an introduction to understanding how policy is made within a country, then discusses how an IPA can systematically collect and organize feedback concerning the policy environment from its investor clientele, and finally examines how IPAs can use their unique position to effect positive changes in the policy environment. The workshop is structured in a way that would enable participants to develop a policy advocacy strategy for their IPA at the end of the training course. The workshop curriculum addresses mainly IPA managers and senior officials involved in policy advocacy, including senior staff of the IPA’s executive office, spokespersons and external relations officers. UNCTAD staff members and consultants will conduct this three-day workshop.

Participation at the UNCTAD/WAIPA workshop is free of charge, but each participant will be expected to cover his/her own travel and hotel expenses. A sponsorship is, however, available for IPAs from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), covering direct economy class airfare to and from Nairobi and four (4) days per diem (at the prevailing UN rate for Nairobi) to cover lodging and meals.

Further information shall be posted shortly on the WAIPA website. Registration forms, including for the sponsorship, are available from the WAIPA Secretariat:
Fax: +41-22-907-0197,
E-mail: Isa-Beatrice.Abel@unctad.org

Regional WAIPA Workshop on Strategic Marketing, 14-15 September 2005, Luanda, Angola

A regional WAIPA Workshop on Strategic Marketing will be held in Luanda, Angola, from 14 to 15 September 2005 and will be hosted by the National Agency for Private Investment (ANIP). The WAIPA workshop will be sponsored by a consulting firm IBM – Business Consulting Services/Plant Location International, (IBM-PLI) based in Brussels. The programme of the workshop will include three major topics. Firstly, Understanding Investor’s Location Decision-Making will cover such issues as understanding investor’s location decision making; objective, the dynamics of the overall FDI market; current global location strategies; recent FDI trends globally and in the African region; the TNCs decision-making process; how IPAs should interact in investors location decision process. Secondly, Designing the Marketing Strategy is to focus on such topics as principles of location marketing; re-active versus pro-active marketing; location as a product : the competitive positioning of the location. Thirdly, Implementing the Marketing Strategy will consider public relations and advertising, including websites; marketing during interactions with prospects (field work, market research, etc.); “happy investors” as a marketing tool; marketing in lead generation (company targeting and aftercare); the sales approach. Under all modules, practical exercises will be organized. The working language of the workshop will be English and training material will be prepared in this language.
Interested countries, particularly from the African region, are welcome to participate in this event. As usual, all mission costs should be covered by IPA members themselves.

For more information, please click here or contact:
Ms. Isa-Beatrice Abel, tel: +4122-9071730, e-mail: isa-beatrice.abel@unctad.org, or
Ms. Karine Campanelli, tel: +4122-9074643, e-mail: karine.campanelli@unctad.org, or
Mr. Vladimir Pankov, tel: +4122-9075610., e-mail: vladimir.pankov@unctad.org