 The second WAIPA Regional Investment Conference, organized in collaboration with the General Authority For Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on 17 and 18 November 2006. The theme of the conference was: IPA Capacity Building & Investment Promotion Strategy in Africa and the Middle East. This event has been the opportunity for national and sub-national investment promotion agencies (IPAs) from the African region to discuss South-South investment and its implications on the strategic development, the capacity building and the structure of IPAs within the region.
On 17 November, the inauguration ceremony was addressed by H.E. Ahmed Nazif, Prime Minister of Egypt and H.E. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Minister of Investment, Egypt.
Two sessions, moderated by Mr. Dan O'Brien, Senior Europe Editor/Economist, from The Economist Intelligence Unit, followed and took the form of interactive debates between the panelists and the audience. Subjects such as Trends & Implications of South-South FDI within and into Africa and the Middle East as well as Case Studies on South-South Investment & the Role of IPAs were discussed. On 18 November, the third and the fourth sessions moderated by Mr. John Defterios, Group Vice president FBC, Media Broadcast, were on IPAs' Effort to Improve their Capacity to Attract FDI & Implications on IPAs' Structure and Strategic Improvement of the Business Environment. Before the closing session, an interactive roundtable on the theme What can be done to benefit more from South-South FDI into Africa? took place. This conference provided networking opportunities and facilitated the exchange of best practices in investment promotion and IPA capacity building.
A welcome dinner on 16 November as well as a Bedouin party on 17 November were kindly be provided by GAFI.
Following the WAIPA Regional Investment Conference 2006, training workshops were organized on 18 November 2006 in collaboration with WAIPA partners. And on 20-21 November, a workshop on Investor Servicing and Aftercare took place in Cairo, Egypt.
Training workshops following the
WAIPA Regional Investment Conference 2006
MIGA IPA Performance Review 2006: Providing Information to Investors Effectively
In the first public presentation since its launch, MIGA will present the results of this ambitious global survey of IPA performance. MIGA has assessed the performance of 125 IPAs in terms of their ability to effectively provide investor information through the IPA's website, and through their ability to handle direct investor inquiries. MIGA will present the eye-opening results and lessons, as well as telling in detail what exactly makes the difference between poor, good and best practice performance, and giving specific tips to improve your IPA's effectiveness.
Copies of the publication will be distributed among workshop participants.
OECD Workshop on "Policy Advocacy Function of IPAs - Towards Effective Communication of Investment Climate Reforms"
The effectiveness of investment promotion depends only in part on servicing and facilitating the potential investor. The international experience demonstrates that an important aspect of a country's strategy for attracting investment is an transparent and inclusive assessment of the investment climate and targeted efforts "to get the basics right". Overregulation, market distortions and other deficiencies in the business environment can neither be overcome by promotion and marketing efforts nor by offering generous fiscal and financial incentives. Successful investment attraction requires political will and committed champions at the highest levels of government who are willing to collaborate actively with the IPA and the private sector. Therefore, policy advocacy is an integral part of investment promotion. Experience shows that IPAs who have direct access to the highest levels in governments can assume successfully this function. The Workshop will explore how the institutional set up of IPAs from the MENA region live up to this challenge and what can be down to better communicate necessary reforms internally in the government but also to the affected constituencies in the society at large.
UNCTAD workshop on “Promoting Investment through an Enabling Framework: the African and Middle Eastern Perspective”, by Anna Joubin-Bret, Senior Legal Advisor, UNCTAD and Dr. Ziad Bahaa El Din, GAFI Chairman
International investment policies are important tools for developing countries to attract FDI and to foster economic growth. International investment agreements (IIAs) complement national laws on investment and strengthen the enabling framework for FDI. They should therefore be seen as an integral part of a country’s investment promotion strategies. At the same time, the legally binding nature of IIAs can present challenges to developing countries. These can take the form of treaty-based investment disputes between the investor and the host country, overlapping and sometimes incompatible provisions within and among IIAs, and the need to build capacity and increase awareness among IIA negotiators on the key issues at stake. The workshop will review the latest developments in IIAs in Africa and the Middle East, as well as investor-State disputes before addressing the challenges facing African and Middle Eastern countries as a result of the rapid proliferation of IIAs.
Highlights from Waipa First Regional Investment Conference
Asia-Pacific Region
15-19 November 2005, Busan, Republic of Korea |
