06/09/05

New E-mail address for the President of WAIPA as well as for the WAIPA Secretariat!

Henceforth, the President of the Association and the Secretariat can be reach on new E-mail addresses: kai.hammerich@waipa.org, karine.campanelli@waipa.org, isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org . We look forward to reading your messages on this new electronic meeting point!

10% less for WAIPA members to attend "Best Practice for Offshored Shared Services 2005", 8-9 September 2005, Prague, Czech Republic

A seminar on best practice for offshore shared services, organized by the International Quality and Productivity Center (IQPC), will take place in Prague, Czech Republic, on 8-9 September 2005 and will be sponsored, among others, by Czech Invest.

For a growing number of companies in highly competitive industries, offshoring is no longer viewed as an adventurous option, but rather as an imperative. The economies being achieved by many are so compelling that the ripple of current activity is set to become a tidal wave.
But how does this practice fit into a company’s strategic armoury? What are the real risks and rewards? The 4th Annual Best Practice for Offshored Shared Services 2005, will present a practical perspective on how some of the world's leading companies such as General Motors, Standard Chartered Bank, ABN AMRO, BT and GlaxoSmithKline are approaching the offshoring issue.

Attendance at this event will enable participants to develop strategies to encompass higher value activities in an offshore location, balance the cost savings with performance needs, deploy effective recruitment and retention strategies, discover the hotspot destinations of tomorrow and weigh up location options, including leveraging economies of scale through a global hub strategy as well as ensuring consistent, standardised and continually improving service delivery.

For further information and registration, please see: www.sharedservicesnetwork.com/GB-2490/WAIPA WAIPA members attend for 10% less by quoting WAIPA when booking.

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

WAIPA and the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) are jointly sponsoring 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 is operational mechanisms and core functions of IPAs. An exhibition area especially designed for WAIPA members is 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 provides 25 free booths, especially for IPAs from developing countries; 75 half-price booths (900 USD/3X3m) are offered to other WAIPA members and their respective domestic enterprises.

For more information, please contact
Mrs. Diliber:
diliber@fdi.gov.cn,
Tel.: +86 10 85 22 6553,
Fax.: +86 10 85 22 6516 or

Mrs. Bao Ning:
baoning@fdi.gov.cn,
Tel.: +86 10 85 22 6554,
Fax.: +86 10 85 22 6558

MENA-OECD Investment Programme, 12-14 September 2005, Manama, Bahrain

The Initiative on Governance and Investment for Development is a regional effort, initiated and led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). It promotes broad reforms to enhance the investment climate, modernize governance structures and operations, strengthen regional and international partnerships, and promote sustainable economic growth throughout the MENA region. The Initiative aims to strengthen countries’ capacity to design and implement policy reforms. It facilitates policy dialogue and sharing of experience on public governance and investment policies among policy makers from MENA countries and their OECD counterparts. The Initiative is built on two pillars: The Good Governance for development Initiative and the MENA-OECD Investment Programme.

Under the patronage of His Excellency Shaikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, Minister of Finance, the MENA-OECD Investment Programme Working Group 1: "Open and Transparent Investment Policy", and 2: “Encouraging Investment Promotion Agencies and Business Associations to act as Driving Forces to Economic Reform” will be hosted by the Economic Development Board, in Bahrain, on 12-14 September. The purpose of these meeting is to agree on recommendations for the MENA Investment Ministerial Meeting to be held in November 2005. While Working Group 1 will focus on drafting the Ministerial Investment Charter for the MENA region; Working Group 2 will focus on improving the regional business network. The partners, among others, engaged in activities are FIAS of the World Bank Group, UNCTAD, the European Commission with ANIMA, UNIDO, the Islamic Development Bank, the Arab League, the Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation, the Union of Arab Banks and Transparency International.

For more information, please contact Mr. Alexander Böhmer at: Alexander.boehmer@oecd.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 contact: Mrs. Isa-Beatrice Abel, e-mail: isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org

UNCTAD Expert Meeting on Positive Corporate Contributions to the Economic and Social Development of host Developing Countries, 31 October – 2 November 2005, Geneva, Switzerland

The Expert Meeting will identify what the economic development dimension of corporate responsibility could involve and what are the elements that are in the interest of countries and in the interest of firms. It will then look at examples of company and industry guidelines and best practices, country policies in encouraging such practices and current projects. It will provide initial answers to what this concept should entail and how it should be pursued in the future, with a view to developing a common language and understanding concerning the economic development dimension of corporate responsibility.

For further information, please contact Mr. Joerg Weber: joerg.weber@unctad.org, and see: www.unctad.org

The WAIPA First Regional Investment Conference will be held in Asia-Pacific together with the APEC Investment Opportunities 2005, on 15-17 November 2005, Busan, Republic of Korea

This year, WAIPA will be organizing its first Regional Investment Conference in the Asia-Pacific region, on 15-17 November 2005, in Busan, Republic of Korea. The theme of the WAIPA Asia-Pacific Investment Conference 2005, which will be held jointly with the APEC Investment Opportunities 2005, is: The Rise of Reciprocal Investment in Asia and its Implication for Emerging Economies. Indeed, at the same time, the Republic of Korea will host the APEC Summit and related events, such as the 17th APEC Ministerial Meeting (November 15-16), the CEO Summit (November 17-19) and the APEC Business Advisory Council meeting (November 14-16).

Complementary lunch and dinner on 15 November 2005 will be provided to participants, as well as invitation to the APEC Investment Opportunities 2005 on 16 November 2005. An opening ceremony will precede the APEC event and a dinner on 16 November 2005 will be hosted by the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy for participating guests in order to provide an opportunity for networking between government officials from APEC member economies and investors. The participants will be invited to be part in the APEC Member Economy Presentations on 16-17 November 2005, and an industrial tour programme will be organized on 18 November 2005.

APEC Investment Opportunities 2005, hosted by the Ministry of Commerce Industry and Energy, is organized by the agency Invest KOREA. Korea first proposed this event in 1999 and it was subsequently held in China in 2001, Russia in 2002 and Thailand in 2003. This year marks the 5th year of the programme. To provide investors with a forum that spotlights the current investment environments in APEC, Korea is arranging events that will bring regional investment experts together with investors from around the world. According to a recent Invest KOREA survey, a significant number of investors were found to have plans to invest in the fastest growing region in the world, and have expressed interest in an event that provides insight into the respective economies of APEC. The APEC Investment Opportunities 2005 will include the following programmes: APEC Member Economy Presentations, Investment Consulting, an Investment Seminar, speeches and lectures by prominent figures.

For further information on the WAIPA Asia-Pacific Investment Conference, please contact Mrs. Isa-Beatrice Abel, e-mail: isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org

New publication: "What’s Next? Strategic Views on Foreign Direct Investment"

What’s Next? What lies ahead in the next three to five years of globalization, foreign direct investment (FDI) and investment promotion?

After the dramatic decline in investment flows of the last few years, the next wave of FDI will involve new sectors, new players, and new ways to do it. Much will happen – and much will change.

The next chapter in the story of FDI begins at the backdrop of current stagnation among the European Union economies (EU 15), strong performance of Central and Eastern Europe, ambivalent economic development in the U.S., emergence of new economic centers of gravity like China and India, and continued lagging behind of Africa and other regions.

This scenario is also the point of departure for the publication Whats’s Next? Strategic Views on Foreign Direct Investment. The 20 articles, written by some of the most prominent experts from academia, business, international organizations and investment promotion agencies (IPAs), present a range of personal views on the effects of FDI – a core element of the globalization debate. Names from academia include among other professors John H Dunning, John Stopford and AnnaLee Saxenian. Business is represented by General Electric and Scania. International organizations include WASME (small and medium enterprises perspective), ICFTU/TUAC (labor perspective) and IIED (on corporate social responsibility).

The book, which will be distributed free of charge, is published by Invest in Sweden Agency (ISA), in co-operation with UNCTAD and WAIPA. It will be launched at ISA’s International Conference in Stockholm What’s Next? Strategic Views on Foreign Direct Investment – same title as the book – on 19 November 2005. The conference will gather a number of high-profile personalities to discuss some of the topics of the book: It will aim at mapping and analyzing the near future trends and implications of foreign direct investment FDI and investment promotion from different perspectives.

A copy of the book will be sent to all WAIPA members. More copies may be ordered at isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org or at the following address: WAIPA, Poste restante, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.