Export-oriented investments vital -UNCTAD
Geneva: The investment decisions of Transnational Corporations (TNCs)
are today increasingly linked to international trade patterns and the
growth of Global Value Chains (GVCs), which now contribute to 80 per
cent of global trade.
Government policy-makers and their investment promotion agencies
(IPAs) have therefore been keen to bring export-oriented investment,
often related to GVCs, to their shores. Such investment can help
countries broaden their participation in GVCs and to capture
higher-value activities and upgrade their exports.
 In this light, UNCTAD is showcasing best practices in attracting
export-oriented foreign direct investment (FDI). UNCTAD's Investment
Promotion Awards 2013 rewards national investment promotion agencies
that have attracted quality projects, have facilitated their countries'
access to GVCs, and have benefited from such value chains.
The winners of this year's awards for excellence in promoting
export-oriented FDI are the Jamaica Promotions Corporation, the
Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, and the Public Authority
for Investment Promotion and Export Development of Oman. IPA officials
from these countries were presented their awards last week by Ambassador
Mikhail Khvostov of Belarus and Director of UNCTAD's Division on
Investment and Enterprise, James Zhan.
The runners-up for this year's Awards included Copenhagen Capacity
(Denmark), the Export and Investment Centre of the Dominican Republic,
the Board of Investment of Mauritius, ProMéxico, ProNicaragua, Trade and
Investment South Africa, and the Innovation and Development Agency of
Andalusia (Spain).
The three joint winners of UNCTAD's Investment Promotion Awards 2013
were able to attract FDI projects in a highly competitive environment
and against the background of a global fall in FDI last year. Jamaica,
Latvia and Oman secured export-oriented FDI projects in a variety of
sectors in manufacturing and services due to their innovative TNC
targeting and the efficient use of public-private partnerships involving
local centres of talent and local suppliers.
UNCTAD seeks to identify the best practices in investment promotion
among the IPA members of its World Investment Network. The UNCTAD
Investment Promotion Awards, which have honoured best practices in
various fields of investment promotion since 2002, are part of a
strategy to capture lessons learned by IPAs and disseminate them for the
benefit of other agencies in developing countries. The awards are part
of UNCTAD's investment promotion and facilitation program. |
