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UNCTAD World Investment Forum 2014 (Closing Ceremony)

Statement by Mr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General

UNCTAD World Investment Forum 2014 (Closing Ceremony)

Geneva
16 October 2014

Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

For me the last four days have shown that there is a real appetite for a global forum that deals with investment for sustainable development, and that brings together all stakeholders in one place. I think that UNCTAD is the right organization to do this and I hope we have met your expectations - perhaps even exceeded them.

As global interest in the area of sustainability and investment grows - from civil society, governments, the private sector and other actors - it becomes ever more necessary to coordinate our efforts and bring all stakeholders together. I for one have met some fascinating people this week and learnt a great deal about what needs to be done to increase the impact of investment in a wide range of fields. Importantly, I have also learnt about what is already happening in diverse areas.

Over the past 3 days, we have heard over 300 high-level speakers in more than 50 events.

I want to thank the more than 3,000 participants from 150 countries who attended the events and who have helped make the forum such a success.

What have we achieved over the last few days? We have fostered new partnerships; we have increased our understanding of investment for development; and we have inspired our future actions. That is a lot already.

There is no other platform that brings together such a diverse constituency, so many different stakeholders, on the issue of investment in sustainable development. We have shared information, exchanged views and hatched new ideas.

That is already a lot. But we can also report some practical achievements; some real results. Let me mention some of the concrete outcomes of this year's World Investment Forum.

  1. A High-Level Action Plan for Investing in the SDGs. The Chairs' Summary of the Ministerial Round Table with the highlights of the debate on investing in the SDGs, based on and enriching UNCTAD's Action Plan for Investing in the SDGs, will be formally sent to the UN General Assembly and will feed into the Conference on Financing for Development next year in Addis Ababa, and ultimately into the Conference on the Sustainable Development Goals in New York.

  2. A High-Level Plan of Action for Investment in LLDCs. The Chairs' Summary of the High-Level Meeting on Investment in LLDCs will feed into the upcoming Second UN Conference for LLDCs in Vienna, which will take stock of the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action.

  3. We launched "Business Schools for Impact". This is an UNCTAD initiative in partnership with the Global Business School Network and the Global Alliance for Management Education, as well as a number of top schools from all continents. It aims to stimulate and support business schools to contribute to sustainable development in the poorest areas in the world by changing the mindset of business graduates and teaching the skills required to invest and operate in low-income environments with positive social impact.

  4. We launched the Global Business Registration Portal, in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Week. This is a global index of national and subnational web portals allowing online business registration or facilitating the business registration process. It promotes the use and improvement of business registration services worldwide, allowing easy access to existing online systems and by facilitating the exchange of experience and best practices among governments.

  5. We now have a Multidisciplinary Policy Research Agenda on Investment for Development, produced by the WIF Academic Conference; and we have launched the Global Network for International Law, Business and Economics together with the academy of International Business and the Society of International Economic Law.

  6. We have designed the contours of a Roadmap for IIA Reform.

  7. We have created the Inter-Regional Dialogue, a collaborative network between regional economic integration organizations.

  8. We launched an "Investment Guide to the Silk Road".

  9. We launched the 2014 Sustainable Stock Exchanges Report, and we adopted a Work Programme of the SSE partners for the next biennium.

  10. We initiated a new partnership on investing in sustainable cities.

  11. We started a number of new partnerships with international firms to make value chains work for the poor.

  12. We launched a Report on "Investment by TNCs and Gender", and adopted a Research Agenda on FDI, TNCs and Women's Empowerment.

  13. We adopted the UNCTAD-ISAR Research Agenda on the Future Direction of Corporate Reporting Models.

  14. And, over the course of the forum, bilaterals between governments, business, and IPAs have hopefully facilitated future investment decisions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

None of this would have been possible without the participation and support of many people and organisations. I may not be able to thank everyone but I would like to express my gratitude to the following supporters of this year's forum:

  • Our first debt of gratitude goes to our host nation, the Swiss government who have provided financial support, as well as logistical and other assistance to the Forum. Without their efforts we could not have created such a successful event;

  • I would also like to thank our civic hosts, the Canton of Geneva;

  • I thank the 35 partner organisations that have enabled us to offer such a rich and interesting programme of events;

  • And, I thank our 20 sponsorship partners and 11 media partners;

  • Lastly, I would like to thank the UN staff here in the Palais: the caterers, the interpretation and conference services, the many volunteers who stood with us as well as all the UNCTAD staff who have contributed to making the forum run smoothly.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is now time to look forward already to the next World Investment Forum. As you know, the forum is a biennial event and we have a number of countries offering to host future forums. I have the pleasure of being able to announce the host country of the next World Investment Forum in 2016...

Ladies and gentlemen,

See you all in Lima, Peru.

And with that, I invite you all to enjoy tonight's party and the special atmosphere that you have created for the World Investment Forum 2014.

Good night.