This was the 13th of a webinar series on investment facilitation for development, hold in the framework of a joint ITC/IDOS project on Investment Facilitation for Development.

The long-term objective of strengthening investment facilitation is to foster sustainable development. An Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement, currently under negotiation in the World Trade Organization (WTO), seeks to support this objective. The webinar discussed, from different stakeholder-perspectives, the various benefits of an Agreement. It reported about research simulating the economic impact of an Agreement, showing that WTO Members participating in it, and low-income countries in particular, will potentially benefit from it. By streamlining domestic procedures to enhance transparency, efficiency and predictability, as well as promoting coordination and dialogue, participating Members can enjoy economic benefits resulting, among other things, from a reduction in transaction costs. The webinar highlighted the crucial importance of support mechanisms to help implement the Agreement in developing countries.