Effective investment facilitation and sustainable development

The one-week training workshop for investment promotion official from developing countries, including 7 LDCs, was hosted by ITC-ILO Training Center and organized by a consortium of UN agencies (ILO, UNCTAD, UNIDO) and international organizations (OECD, EIF, WAIPA). It brought together 39 participants from 15 countries (20 women).

UNCTAD staff delivered training in-person on 15 and 16 May on FDI trends in times of a poly-crisis, including sessions and presentations on aftercare and policy advocacy; investment promotion and facilitation in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-related projects; image building; and digital tools for investment promotion.

Main takeaways:

• Quality FDI, including investment in SDG sectors has become mainstream in the thinking about FDI and development.
• Partnerships across government, business and society strengthen the alignment of FDI with national development priorities and deepen the positive impact of FDI for society.
• Investor aftercare can enhance the sustainable impact of investments including reinvestment, the main source of FDI, and in a poly-crisis context the capacity to retain investment.
• Policy advocacy contributes to policy coherence and ensures an enabling environment for enterprises.
• As responsible business conduct and (mandatory) human rights due diligence is becoming the norm for many companies, it provides opportunities for IPAs to discuss business practices linked to decent work.
• The digital transformation of IPAs and FDI remains high on the agenda and there are capacity building needs for making IPA functions more effective in promoting and facilitating investments and to monitor FDI impact along SDG dimensions.

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