The World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) concluded its Fifth Annual Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday after three days of deliberations (see also UNCTAD PR/011X). Some 120 participants, including representatives of 48 investment promotion agencies (IPAs), took part in this large international gathering of high-level investment promotion officials. The Conference was addressed by UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero and the Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Ms. Mary Harney, who expressed their organizational and financial support for WAIPA. Drawing on best practices in investment promotion based on the Irish, Brazilian and other international experiences, both Ms. Harney and Mr. Ricupero stressed the significant potential developmental role that foreign investment can play in all economies. The primary objective of WAIPA, which was founded in 1995 and now has 106 member agencies, is to exchange experiences in investment promotion and to provide a range of related training and advisory services to its members.
Ms. Patricia Francis, President of JAMPRO, Jamaica, was elected as the new President of WAIPA at the Conference. She now faces the challenge of expanding the services provided to its members and keeping the association on a sound financial and operational footing. The outgoing President, Mr. Paid McMenamin of Ireland, was commended for the strong leadership he provided in guiding the fledgling organization since its inception, and for the significant role he played both in generating international support for WAIPA and in forging a clear sense of purpose among its members.
Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, Minister of the Office of the Prime Minister of Thailand, opened the Conference on behalf of the Board of Investment (BOI) of Thailand, which co-organized this year’s WAIPA event. The Conference agenda was thus shaped by its setting in Thailand, a country whose notable economic development over the past decades has been based, not least, on its ability to market itself as a profitable location for foreign investment. Thailand’s role as a hub for foreign direct investment in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) -- including Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Thailand, Viet Nam and the Yunnan Province of China -- was further highlighted in the context of a substantive session focusing on GMS cooperation in promoting the subregion to investors.
A panel discussion with chief executive officers and senior managers of foreign and national enterprises that have invested in Thailand and the subregion considered factors influencing location decisions. A particular focus was on the track record of BOI and other IPAs in supporting the investment process, as well as the type of services that investors would like to receive from IPAs. Attention again turned to the host nation’s investment promotion efforts during a field trip to the Banwa High-Technology Industrial Estate and to the BOI Fair 2000, a large and successful business fair.
In order to mark the occasion of the fifth WAIPA Conference, six IPAs presented their visions on investment promotion over the next decade during a special WAIPA Anniversary Session. Most of the agencies represented were from small countries --Estonia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Namibia and Thailand -- which focused their attention on the importance of developing niche markets and cultural products on the one hand, and on gaining access to larger markets through regional cooperation, on the other.
A sizeable part of the Conference programme was dedicated to presentations by international organizations on expertise gained in providing advice and training on issues relating to foreign investment policy and promotion. The organizations involved were the European Union; the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank group; UNCTAD; and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
The presentations focused on administrative barriers to foreign direct investment (FIAS), new capacity-building initiatives for investment promotion (MIGA), and Internet-based tools to market countries (UNIDO). UNCTAD presented the preliminary results of a recent survey of investment promotion practices of 101 IPAs, which will be used to benchmark best IPA practices (see attached note). Other UNCTAD presentations were made on trends in the international legal framework of foreign direct investment and on investment promotion in the context of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
