WAIPA - World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies

The 12th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) organized by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and co-organized by eleven local, Hong-Kong and Mainland China commercial and trade promotion institutes will be held from 18 to 21 October 2007 at the Venetian Macao Convention and Exhibition Centre. Last year, 47 countries and regions with over 148 delegations participating in more than 500 business matching sessions congregated in Macao. The main theme of this year’s MIF is Showcasing Macao’s New Dynamics, Advancing Opportunities of the Trade and Economic Co-operation Platform. Following Macao’s return to Mainland China, strong regional and global co-operation has been developed, in line with the launching of high ranking and large scale economic events, Macao is constantly strengthening its connections with trade promotion institutes on Mainland China, Portuguese speaking countries, the European Union, Asia and other countries around the world. In this year’s MIF, an International Trade and Investment Promotion pavilion will be established specially designed for renowned international Associations.
For more details, please contact Mr. Sam Lei, Senior Management of Promotional Activities Department of IPIM, at: samlei@ipim.gov.mo or at the following telephone number: +853-7989105 or fax: +853-28590309

South African International Trade and Investment Conference and Exhibition in Durban, 29-31 October 2007

South Africa invites all potential investors to attend the country’s International Trade & Investment Conference and Exhibition to be held at the International Convention Centre, Durban, on 29-31 October 2007. The aim of this event is to showcase investment opportunities in South Africa and also promote the country’s export potential. Key areas of this event entail a conference, exhibition and business matching meetings. To contact us and register as a delegate, visit www.sainvest2007.com. This is an initiative of the national Department of Trade and Industry and all Investment Promotion Agencies from all the nine provinces of South Africa. Trade & Investment KwaZulu-Natal (www.tikzn.co.za) is one of the provincial IPAs and has been mandated to organize this event, which will be held annually and rotate among the provinces. South Africa’s IPAs have packaged investment opportunities designed the meet the needs of potential investors. The IPAs also provide great support and assist potential investors in navigating the South African business landscape. We call on all potential investors globally to seriously consider South Africa as a strong and dynamic business destination. South Africa – Alive with Possibilities.

NAMIBIA TO HOST INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT CONFERENCE

The Walvis Bay Spatial Development Initiative / Namibia International Investment Conference, is scheduled to take place from 31 October – 1 November 2007 in Windhoek, Namibia. The Conference is co-chaired by H.E Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa and H.E Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Namibia.

The conference serves as an ideal platform to showcase Namibia's potential as a viable location for foreign direct investment and is part of the overall strategic framework of the Walvis Bay Spatial Development Initiative (WBSDI) which was initiated in 2000/2001 by the Governments of Namibia and South Africa as a bilateral initiative. The WBSDI closely mirrors the Maputo Corridor which stretches from Gauteng in South Africa to the port of Maputo.

Participation to the conference is free of charge, provision has been made with accommodation establishments and corporate rates have been negotiated. You are welcome to register and receive more details from the website, www.investnamibiaconference.com

Walvis Bay Spatial Development Initiative / Namibia International
Investment Conference
Tel: +264 61 2837228
Fax: +264 61 220278

World Free Zone Convention, week of the 4th of November 2007, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

For the first time the World Free Zone Convention will be held in Asia – during the week beginning the 4th November 2007 – at the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel. The overall theme is “The growth of Free Zones around the globe - lessons from the dynamism of the Far East”.

Malaysia is well placed to offer some keys to the future of Zones as they move from labour-intensive and commodity-intensive industrialisation to knowledge-intensive activities.
Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the United Nationals Millenium Project, praised Malaysia’s success in the recent World Investment Prospects Special Edition. “A look at one of the world’s most successful investment promotion agencies, the Malaysia Industrial Development Agency (MIDA), gives us some idea of the basic challenges. Corporate tax holidays, government grants of land and duty-free imports are all standard tools to attract the initial inflows of FDI. One of the most successful strategies has been to declare a special economic zone (SEZ) or export processing zone, in which the investors will face simple, clear and highly favourable tax and administrative treatment, and in which the basic necessary levels of infrastructure will be guaranteed.”

The Seventh Convention includes an optional Training Course and several optional Workshops on Investors attraction methods and developing a one-stop shop, latest thinking and techniques, how zones should organize and operate a compliance programme incorporating the concepts of SAFE, C-TPAT, and other international best practices, developing business relationships with countries in Asia, how zones can benefit from the move to global supply chains, benchmarking zones master class. Key speakers at the two day international conference on the 6th and 7th November will come from international institutions, corporates and their location advisers, zone and port/airport authorities from around the world. More than 120 countries now have zone programmes with varying degrees of success. The Chairman of Port Klang Authority Mr. Datuk Chor Chee Heung will welcome them all in this special year to celebrate 50 years of Malyasian nationhood and to further the aims and objectives of Free Zones around the world.

See the Convention website www.freezones.org for more information or to register.

Press enquiries: Sue Wake, Convention Director, Tel: +44 20 7839 1334, Fax: +44 870 131 9578 Email: sue@icninfo.com

The Fourth North African Power Industry Convention (NAPIC), 10-12 December 2007, Algiers, Algeria

North African countries are displaying a high level of cooperation in the power sector, the most credible of which is the electricity grid interconnection, which should link each country's power system to other countries in the region, from Morocco to Egypt. Interconnection projects will result in the creation of a regional market, which will link the regional grid to Europe. Increasingly, privatisation and foreign capital are being seen as necessary steps toward financing these projects, leading to an increasingly deregulated sector.

The fourth North African Power Industry Convention (NAPIC) will take place from 10-12 December 2007 in Algiers, Algeria. This year’s high-level conference and exhibition takes the themes of Restructuring, Regulation and Regional Integration. Highlights of NAPIC 2007 include a pre-conference workshop hosted by Cbi Ltd on North African Energy Finance and Policy. The workshop contains four modules that will explore trends in the projects undertaken in energy infrastructure projects in North Africa; North African utility’s attitude to project development and risk; financial options and risk mitigation. A two-day conference offers delegates strategic presentations from the region’s decision makers, utility heads, consultants and vendors. Sessions focus on legal and institutional frameworks for electric interconnections; the Maghrebian market of electricity and its integration in the EU; generation, transmission and distribution of gas and electricity as well as a special focus on metering technology and AMR.

NAPIC 2007 has the patronage of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Algeria and Sonelgaz is the host utility. STEG (Tunisia) and ONE (Morocco) are participating utilities. NAPIC 2007 partners include: Observatoire Méditerranéenne de l’Energie (OME), Agence Nationale de Développement des Industries (ANDI – Investment promotion agency), Agence Algérien d’Information (AAI), Chambre de Commerce Française-Algérienne and Brussels Export Council.

First Investors Guide for an African City
Investment opportunities are at the heart of Invest in Kenya: Focus Kisumu, the first city investment guide in Africa which was released on 26 September 2007. The Guide was prepared by the MCI of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the CPII, with the support of the Governments of Kenya and Finland, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and the European Business Council for Africa and the Mediterranean (EBCAM) have lent their support to this effort.

INVEST IN KENYA: FOCUS KISUMU
The principal investment opportunities in Kisumu are found in the rich agriculture areas with good potential for growing sugar cane, cotton, groundnuts, rice and horticultural crops. It has also high potential for agro-processing, dairy, and aquaculture. Fish processing and fish farming is yet to be exploited fully. There is a domestic market for some of these crops (e.g., rice) and products made from them (e.g., peanut butter) and a regional or overseas market for others (e.g., potable alcohol made from sugarcane). Aquaculture again has both domestic and foreign markets for its products, in particular for tilapia and Nile perch. Other opportunities may be found in service sectors. Kisumu has a serious prospect for conference and leisure tourism from the East African region. Water transport on Lake Victoria, for cargo in particular, also offers opportunities. There are opportunities in construction as well, as there is a serious shortage of low-cost housing.

Most recent investments in and around Kisumu include a farming venture and a privatized sugar plant. While the farming venture is a foreign investment of USD 15 million, 51% of the former State-owned sugar mill was privatized to a Kenyan investor. The farm produces and sells rice and other cereal grains in the Kenyan and East African markets, and tilapia fish in the Kenyan and European markets. The sugar plant became an effective operation and demonstrates that sugar can be produced competitively in Kenya.

The Earth Institute at Columbia University has launched the MCI (www.earth.columbia.edu/mci) as the urban complement to the Millennium Village Project (www.millenniumvillages.org]. It is a tool to support, through research, policy analysis and focused promotional activities, selected mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa. The MCI’s core mission is to help a number of cities across sub-Saharan Africa in the transformation essential for sustainable development and attaining the Millennium Development Goals. The MCI initially concentrates on policy analysis impacting foreign direct investment and investment promotion activities, with a view towards creating employment, stimulating domestic enterprise development and fostering economic growth. This work is being pursued complementarily with promoting integrated development strategies for the selected cities.
The Kisumu Guide is available on-line at: www.planning.go.ke; www.investmentkenya.com; www.earth.columbia.edu/mci/; and www.cpii.columbia.edu .
For queries on MCI or the guide please contact Karl P. Sauvant
(tel. +1-212-854-0689 or karl.sauvant@law.columbia.edu) or Joerg Simon (tel. +1-646-884-7418 or jks4921@ei.columbia.edu).

The 12th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair, 18-21 October 2007, Macao of the People’s Republic of China