04/10/05

REMINDER: Please note the New E-mail addresses for the President of WAIPA and the WAIPA Secretariat!

Since 1 September 2005, 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!

Welcome to the Seychelles Investment Bureau (SIB)!

We are pleased to announce that the Seychelles Investment Bureau (SIB) has become the 180 th member of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA). This agency is the second WAIPA member coming from the Seychelles . The Association covers 147 countries worldwide.

Steering Committee meets on 18 September 2005, in Stockholm, Sweden

The WAIPA Steering Committee met on 18 September 2005 in Stockholm - Sweden . The following members were present, namely: Mr. Kai Hammerich, WAIPA President, Director General of Invest in Sweden Agency , Sweden , Mr. Yu Hua, Deputy Director General, Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) - Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, accompanied by Mr. Miao Naichuan, Third Secretary, Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Kingdom of Sweden, Mr. Emmanuel Hess, Director of Supporting Services, Costa Rican Investment Board (CINDE), Costa Rica, Mr. Hazem Elwissimy, Advisor to the Chairman, General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Andrus Viirg, Director, Enterprise Estonia, Estonia, Mr. Carl Pilgrim, International Marketing Officer, National Development Corporation (NDC), Saint Lucia, Mr. Abdulhamid Juma, Deputy Director General, Dubai Development and Investment Authority (DDIA), United Arab Emirates and Mr. Martin Berlin, Chief Strategy Officer, Dubai Development and Investment Authority (DDIA), United Arab Emirates .

Mr. Kai Hammerich opened the meeting and announced that the Swedish Government, through the Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation (SIDA), pledged funds of 1 million euros over three years, from 2005 to 2008, to UNCTAD, for WAIPA activities devoted to developing countries, especially the poorest countries. The support programme will comprise three main areas of work, namely research of relevance to IPAs from these developing countries, training workshops and study tours for IPAs which are not already sponsored by ProInvest.

He also invited other governments to contribute to WAIPA activities as well.

The President underlined that the efforts to attract new members as well as to develop partnerships with the private sector shall continue. He also encouraged the involvement of Steering Committee members to contribute to the WAIPA first Regional Conference in Busan , South Korea , on 15-16 November 2005, as well as to the WAIPA World Investment Conference 2006. He mentioned that a new Steering Committee will be elected on March 2006 and presented the guidelines and recommendations that have been elaborated to strengthen the support provided by Steering Committee members. These guidelines will be communicated to all WAIPA members at the beginning of November 2005.

For more information, please contact the WAIPA Secretariat, at : isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org

The first WAIPA Regional Investment Conference, 15-16 November 2005, Busan, Republic of Korea

The first WAIPA Regional Investment Conference, organized in collaboration with Invest Korea (KOTRA) and the United Nations on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), will be held in Busan, Republic of Korea , on 15 and 16 November 2005 , back-to-back with Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Investment Opportunities 2005. The theme of the conference is: "The Rise of Reciprocal Investment in Asia and its Implication for Emerging Economies". This event will be the opportunity for national investment promotion agencies (IPAs) from the Asia-Pacific region to discuss inward and outward investment and its implications on the economic development of their countries.

On 15 November, four sessions will take the form of interactive debates between panelists and the audience and moderated by a media person. Subjects such as Asian FDI flows, policies and trends in 2004, success stories of intra-regional investment, business views on investing in Asia 's emerging economies and best practices to attract intra-Asian investment will be discussed. A fifth session, on 16 November, will take the form of an interactive roundtable on the theme: "Development Implications of FDI for Asia 's Emerging Economies". This conference will provide networking opportunities and facilitate the exchange of best practices in investment promotion.

Following the WAIPA Asia-Pacific Investment Conference 2005, an UNCTAD-WAIPA training workshop on Policy Advocacy for IPAs from Asia will be organized on 18 and 19 November 2005 . 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 training course 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.

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 afternoon. 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 .

For further information, please contact: Mrs. Isa-Béatrice Abel at : isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org

OECD Conference on "Investment for Development", 25-27 October 2005, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

On 25-27 October 2005, the OECD is organizing, in partnership with the Government of Brazil, the World Bank and the support of the Brazilian National Development Bank, a major conference in Rio de Janeiro on the theme "Investment for Development". The OECD-Brazil Roundtable on 25 October will seek views from practitioners on the implementation of Brazil 's recent law on public-private partnerships. The OECD Global Forum on International Investment on 26-27 October will be devoted to the Policy Framework for Investment currently being developed by the OECD Investment Committee to raise the level of productive investment in the developing world. The conference will be followed on Friday 28 October in the same location by a seminar with the World Bank on the theme of "Trade and Development".

For further information, please visit the OECD website: www.oecd.org/daf/investment/development or contact Mr. Thomas Dannequin: thomas.dannequin@oecd.org , telephone + 33 1 45 24 81 56 for participation arrangements. There are no registration fees.

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 Jordan Economic Forum (JEF), 27-28 November 2005, Amman , Jordan

The 2nd Jordan Economic Forum (JEF), organized by Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group and the Government of Jordan, will be held on 27-28 November 2005 in Amman , Jordan , under the patronage of H.M. King Abdallah Bin Hussein.

The forum will focus on the following topics: Economic vision of Jordan , The next agenda of economic reform, Opportunities in privatization, Banking and capital markets, Investment opportunities in Industry, tourism and real estate, Jordan role in the trade with Iraq , Jordan as a regional trade and business hub. The 2 nd Jordan Economic Forum will bring together more than 700 eminent participants from over 20 countries providing as such the ideal venue for an in-depth review and analysis of all issues and challenges facing the Jordanian economy, and an identification of investment and business opportunities. This forum will offer a platform for networking and building relationships with participating business and government leaders, with an interest in this growing economy.

For further information, please see: www.iktissad.com