21/09/08

Upcoming Events

WAIPA Events

The overarching theme of the (third) WAIPA (Regional) Investment Conference is Foreign Direct Investment: New Scenarios and Challenges. Scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from the 3rd to the 5th of December 2008, this Conference marks an initial step of the current presidency of WAIPA towards the important objective of bringing the investment promotion community closer to those chiefly involved in investment decisions. Internationally recognized representatives from academia, including Nobel prize laureates, Edmund Phelps and Joseph Stiglitz, have also confirmed their participation.

The selection of the Conference’s key note speakers has been a personal undertaking of Mr. Alessandro Teixeira, current President of WAIPA and of APEX-Brasil. This Rio de Janeiro meeting of WAIPA represents an invaluable opportunity for national and sub-national investment promotion agencies (IPAs) to gather and to learn from global political leaders, business leaders from very diverse segments of industry and regions of the globe.

Amongst the global leaders confirmed as key note speakers are Ireland’s former Prime-Minister Bertie Ahern, Mexico’s former President Vicente Fox, former Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz as well as Poland’s former President Aleksander Kwasniewski. Lawrence Summers, US Treasury Secretary under the Clinton administration, again under consideration for this same office under Barack Obama, will also be addressing WAIPA members.

WAIPA members will hear the private sector’s perspective on the new scenarios from Board Presidents and Chief Executive Officers of such major international corporations as Unilever, China Construction Bank, BrightStar Corp, GE Spain and Portugal, HCL – America, Global Investment Manager – Fraport, the Brazilian Gerdau Group and Brazilian oil company Petrobras.

Apart from the networking opportunities this Conference will provide, IPAs will have the opportunity to discuss global economic issues likely to affect FDI flows in discussion groups that seek to help IPAs prepare for the challenges affecting the investment promotion field.

We warmly invite all our members to visit www.waipa.org for more details. Registration forms may be obtained by e-mailing conference@waipa.org.

WAIPA is organizing from 27 to 28 November 2008 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, a regional training workshop on 'FDI Aftercare: Go up in the value chain of activities'. The training will be run by Ernst & Young. It will provide participating IPAs officials with tools to deliver meaningful aftercare service capacities. Topics covered by the programme include investment facilitation practices and techniques as well as tools to launch action plans.

The overall objective of this workshop is to further develop aftercare strategies for IPAs. Participants will be provided with a conceptual framework as well as some illustrations of corporate development service programmes.

The workshop programme will be available soon on the waipa website www.waipa.org.

For registration and further information please contact Mrs. Alexandra Tokareva at: alexandra.tokareva@waipa.org or at the following telephone number: +41 22 797 26 63.

Other Events

COMESA Investor Conference, 18-19 November 2008, Brussels, Belgium

The COMESA Secretariat in collaboration with the European Commission and the Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture Belgium-Luxembourg-ACP has invited you all to the first major COMESA Investor Conference, taking place on November 18th and 19th, 2008, Brussels, Belgium. Support to the Conference is provided by the ACP Business Climate facility (BizClim), a joint initiative of the ACP Group of States and the European Commission that aims to improve the business environment in ACP countries and regions.

The Conference is expected to draw over 150 people, including government officials and business people from the COMESA region and Europe, as well as representatives from donor agencies, development organizations, financial institutions and private sector organizations.

The event comes at a very important time when COMESA is poised to launch its customs Union in December, 2008. Concurrently, the process of exploring the feasibility of establishing a single Free Trade Area (FTA) encompassing COMESA, EAC and SADC is being canvassed through tripartite structure that will culminate in the COMESA – EAC – SADC Summit in October 2008. Regarding bilateral trade agreements, the ESA/EPA countries continue to engage the European Commission with the objective of concluding a development oriented EPA that will contribute towards poverty eradication.

The COMESA Investment Conference main objective is to link up with potential European investors and entice them into investing and trading with COMESA. To this effect, the COMESA Secretariat will present its vision and strides made in improving the business climate and creating favourable conditions for welcoming investors and facilitating trade. This presentation will highlight key developments and initiatives in support of the private sector, such as the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) and the African Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank).

Registration is possible under the specific BizClim Website: http://bizclim.ning.com

Report on Past Events

Annual International Investment Summit of Donetsk, Ukraine

The Investment Summit of the Donetsk region in Eastern Ukraine took place from the 28 through the 31st of October, 2008. The event counted with V. Yushchenko, President of the Ukraine and L. Kaczynski, President of Poland as opening night speakers. Investment opportunities in areas such as Science & Technology, Agriculture and Construction were presented in an innovative way. The innovative character resides in how Donetsk presented its investment opportunities. Projects in construction follow the recent trend of adding infra-structure projects to the overall planning of major international events: in the case of the Ukraine, the country's hosting of EURO 2012. Note should also be made with respect to the process of identifying potential clusters, tapping prospective investors and managing the interests of the many constituents locally affected by these investment projects. The WAIPA Secretariat was present at the event.

Publications and Others

Press release (29 October 2009): Water provision comes under the spotlight at the iPAD West Africa Water Summit 2008

Water is as critical an element for sustainable development as anything could be. It is necessary for agriculture, industry, and basic human survival. It is used for sanitation and hygiene purposes, and yet it may also bear disease. Water is so vital that a country’s water infrastructure alone may provide a measure of that country’s development.

The West African Water Summit 2008, as part of the Infrastructure Partnerships for African Development (iPAD) West Africa conference and exhibition, will address the business of water in West Africa.

The summit will cover technical and executive aspects of water and sanitation infrastructure in both urban and rural environments. Case studies will provide the opportunity to learn from the experiences of others, and expert opinion will deliver informed guidance to decision makers. Topics at the summit will include the planning and maintenance of water assets, socio-environmental considerations, private sector participation, metering, leakage management, and revenue collection.

Utilities, senior government and state representatives, NGO’s, and investors will converge to discover and debate solutions and strategies for the successful provision of life’s most precious resource.

The iPAD West Africa exhibition, which is available to all registered delegates of the West African Water Summit, will showcase the latest water products and technologies available.

More information about the West African Water Summit can be found online at www.ipad-africa.com/westafrica

Press release (29 October 2008): Discover public-private synergy at the West African Power Industry Convention

The 5th annual West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC) will be incorporated into the Infrastructure Partnerships for African Development (iPAD) West Africa 2008 conference and exhibition, enriching an already well-established power industry event by juxtaposing it with complementary infrastructure verticals.

WAPIC provides the ideal platform for the West African power industry to work towards sustainable development, attract future investment, and source business opportunities. This international event encourages regional cooperation through a unique forum covering the full spectrum of generation, transmission and distribution issues as well as the development and reformation of the West African power sector. Traditionally, the event focuses on:

• Finance
• Regional cooperation
• Alternative and renewable energy sources
• Integrated energy plans
• Demand side management
• Privatisation and government policies
• Ways of turning environmental challenges into profitable solutions for the power sector

In 2008, WAPIC will take place in Abuja, Nigeria – the third time the event will be held in the Nigerian capital. The Nigerian government has committed to the pursuit of its 2020 vision, a bold plan to become one of the world’s top 20 economies by 2020. Energy is a vital component of ensuring the success of this vision. Without a reliable power supply, the cost of doing business will remain elevated and Nigeria’s quest for economic liberation hindered.

WAPIC will provide in-depth coverage of the present power industry climate in Nigeria. Alhaja Fatima Ibrahim, Minister of State for Energy (Power), and Engr. Bello Suleiman, Executive Vice Chairman of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, are to deliver the keynote addresses at the event, relating to Nigeria’s strategic approach to infrastructural development in the electric power sector. The CEO of the Rural Electrification Agency, Engr. Sam I Gekpe, will speak on Rural electrification: A government social policy objective. Another highlight from the programme is a case study on the small hydropower projects in Nigeria, delivered by two senior representatives from the respective development authorities.

WAPIC will also afford coverage of the entire region, and provide insights related to regional integration. Prof. Joseph Assie Bénié, Director General of ANARE, will present a case study focused on the Ivory Coast; and Jonathan Manson, Electricity and Energy Project Advisor from the European Copper Institute, is to deliver insights from observations of Brazilian and Senegalese peri-urban electrification projects. A Ghanaian case study, Development of the electric power distribution sector: The Ghanaian experience, will be given by Jude Osafo Adu-Amankwah, Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana. Ade Adeola, Managing Director: Project & Export Finance for the Standard Chartered Bank, UK will participate in a panel discussion about the fundamental issues facing the integration of electrical power infrastructure development in the West African sub-region, and Babatunde Adeyemo, Director of the West African Power Pool, will chair the session dedicated to regional integration in the energy sector, as well as serve on a panel discussing strategies for public-private synergy at country and regional levels.

The private sector will be essential in driving growth in Africa. To facilitate growth, governments are well advised to promote an enabling environment for private sector involvement. Issues such as legal and regulatory reform, government loans, and public-private partnerships will form an integral part of WAPIC and the iPAD West Africa event.

WAPIC will offer dual translation in French and English. It will be held at the Abuja International Conference Centre in Abuja, Nigeria from 25-27 November 2008.

To find out more or to view the programme visit www.ipad-africa.com