Delegates of five least developed countries and international experts are meeting in Geneva (6-7 June) to share their experiences and develop best practices on efficient and transparent investment promotion practices at a workshop organized by UNCTAD. The workshop is part of a larger UNCTAD initiative, launched at the May 2001 Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, on upholding good governance in investment promotion and facilitation and thereby building national capacities in developing countries to attract foreign direct investment (FDI).
Officials of investment promotion agencies from Ethiopia, Lesotho, the Maldives, Mali and Tanzania will be joined by international experts from UNCTAD, the United Nations Development Programme, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Transparency Switzerland, other international organizations and the private sector to exchange views on enhancing the efficiency, transparency and competitiveness of their FDI promotion services. These five countries are committed to developing a client-oriented and transparent administrative system that will encourage inward investment by foreign companies.
The international community has increasingly focused its attention on good governance issues in the context of international business transactions. With respect to UNCTAD, the 2000 Bangkok Plan of Action adoptned by UNCTAD X mandated the organization to "contribute to sound domestic macroeconomic and financial policies, administrative reforms and continuing efforts to promote a stable and transparent national legal and regulatory framework favourable to development". The Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 (Brussels, 2001) calls for development partners to provide financial and technical assistance to LDCs for human and institutional capacity-building for governance. UNCTAD´s Capacity-Building Programme on Good Governance in Investment Promotion and Facilitation is supported by the Government of Sweden and is being implemented by UNCTAD´s Advisory Services on Investment and Training (ASIT).
