02/12/05

Do You Want to Host a WAIPA Workshop?

WAIPA is currently planning its workshop schedule for the following year. The topics of the workshops are determined through feed-back from WAIPA members. We are looking forward to receiving your proposals. Also, WAIPA members who are interested in hosting such workshops during the year 2006 are kindly requested to indicate this to the WAIPA secretariat, at the following e-mail address: info@waipa.org

WAIPA Directory

On 19 July 2005 , the WAIPA secretariat sent a request by E-mail to its members asking to complete a fact sheet with a view to compiling data for a comprehensive WAIPA Directory. Only a few WAIPA members responded to this request. We will therefore send a reminder for those who have not responded yet, and we would be grateful for your cooperation in filling out the document and returning it to the WAIPA secretariat, at: info@waipa.org

Few places left to participate in the WAIPA Regional Workshop entitled "A cluster based approach to attracting FDI", 5-8 December 2005, Marseille , France

WAIPA, in collaboration with UNCTAD and the Euro-Mediterranean Network ANIMA, is organizing a training workshop on "Cluster Creation and Development" for IPA professionals from the MENA and Gulf Region. It will be held on 5-8 December 2005, in Marseille , France . Senior consultants from OCO Consulting will conduct this four-day workshop, which will be hosted by ANIMA. The series on "Cluster Creation and Development" has received excellent evaluations by participants who attended Bahrain (December 2004) and Botswana (March 2004).

The objective of the course is to help investment promotion practitioners to understand foreign investors' needs and, on that basis, design a marketing strategy. Workshop participants will be introduced to analytical tools for IPAs to segment sector and country targets and market their country and the IPA services in the most cost-effective way. The workshop will create awareness of the different marketing tools available and their performance ratios. The curriculum will include best practices by IPAs in the region. The specific sector-based case studies will be selected on the basis of the composition of workshop participants. The workshop structure has been designed to allow participants to work on a marketing strategy for their own IPA during the course. This will allow them to benefit from the input of other participants and the trainers. The workshop curriculum addresses mainly IPA professionals from the marketing, sales and strategy departments.

For further information, please contact Mrs. Isa-Beatrice Abel at: isa-beatrice.abel@waipa.org, tel.: +41 22 907 1730.

The WAIPA Asia-Pacific Investment Conference 2005, 15-16 November 2005, Busan, Republic of Korea

The theme of the first regional conference of WAIPA, the WAIPA Asia-Pacific Investment Conference 2005 (RIC 2005), was "The Rise of Reciprocal Investment in Asia and Its Implications for Emerging Economies". The conference took place at City Hall in Busan, Republic of Korea , from 15 to 16 November 2005 . This conference attracted 113 participants, of which 50 were representatives from 22 IPAs and 59 were from the private sector. The meeting also attracted a significant number of representatives of international organizations, as well as people from the media and academic world. The RIC was held parallel to the events of the 2005 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers' Meeting in Busan and was part of its investment event, APEC Investment Opportunities 2005.

Parallel to the RIC, UNCTAD and WAIPA hosted a regional training workshop on IPA Policy Advocacy, on 18-19 November 2005. This event attracted 9 participants from the IPAs of Cambodia, Fiji , Malaysia , Maldives , Papua New Guinea , the Republic of Korea and Samoa .

Summaries of the sessions will be available on the WAIPA website: www.waipa.org

Dubai Trade Point granted World Trade Point Federation membership

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) was recently honoured for its effort in establishing the Dubai Trade Point (DTP), which has gained official accreditation by the World Trade Point Federation as the DCCI. The ceremony took place during the DCCI's participation in the 6th general assembly meeting of the World Trade Point Federation in Bangkok , under the sponsorship of Shangmai Trade Point in Thailand on November 7-9. The World Forum on Small and Medium Enterprises was held as a parallel event.

Dubai was promoted as an interesting destination for investment during the meeting which also discussed ways of cooperation between the trade points. Mr. Masier, Chairman of the World Trade Point Union, handed over the membership certificate of DTP to Mr. Shamsa Fareed Zainal, Manager of DTP, on behalf of the DCCI. The meeting was held this year in Thailand in cooperation with World Trade Point Federation and the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The event was supported by the Thai Ministry of Industry, Department of Industrial Promotion, Office of Small and Medium Enterprises and Thailand 's Exhibitions and Convention Centre. The meeting discussed the development of small and medium enterprises, as well as world trade and exports promotion. It aimed at enhancing ties of cooperation among the trade points. The meeting was attended by Mr. Chakamon, Permanent Secretary of the Thai Ministry of Industry, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary General of UNCTAD, and Mr. Masier.

The World Trade Point Federation is an international non-profit organization that was established in 2000. A network of more than 140 trade information centres, better known as trade points, were established in more than 92 countries. The trade points in these countries are considered as developed centres for information which facilitate the international trade practice through e-commerce. This helps small and medium commercial enterprises to obtain serious trade and investment opportunities in the world market. These centres are also considered as an important source for information to the business community which provides statistics and economic data. A trade point also provides a huge electronic market through its buying and selling services at its electronic gate. DTP, which operates under the umbrella of DCCI, contributes in putting Dubai on the world map and in promoting the business community locally and globally. The DTP provides business establishments in Dubai with the needed information and helps them entering the world market through the electronic commerce system, which consequently, could benefit from thousands of investment opportunities all over the world. DTP helps reduce the commercial transactions expenses.

Source of information: UNCTAD Press Office

Risk Management Tool for Investors in Weak Governance Zones: Public Consultation

The OECD Investment Committee is developing a risk management tool to assist companies in responsibly managing their investments in weak governance zones.  After extensive consultation in the early stages of development, the draft Risk Management Tool for Investors in Weak Governance Zones was made available for public comment through an online consultation which took place between 26 October 2005 and  23 November 2005 . A diversity of comments were encouraged -- from a general assessment of only a few lines to detailed, point-by-point remarks. These comments will be used to improve the draft risk management tool to be considered at the next meetings of the Investment Committee.  The tool is scheduled for finalisation in the first half of 2006.

For more information, please see: www.oecd.org