Investment Facilitation for Development

Project description

Foreign direct investment (FDI) can play a significant role in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially in developing countries. However, FDI flows need to be ramped up considerably to make a marked contribution in order to meet this objective. This is all the more important now because global FDI flows decreased substantially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the United Nations Conference for Development (UNCTAD), global FDI contracted by 49% in the first half of 2020, compared to the previous year. This makes the facilitation of FDI flows - and especially the facilitation of sustainable FDI flows - urgent.

Beyond such economic fundamentals as market size and growth, the quality of infrastructure and the level of skills, the impediments to sustainable FDI flows to developing countries can include:

• low levels of predictability and transparency of the regulatory framework,
• difficulties of undertaking investment,
• insufficient international cooperation among governments as well as stakeholders on investment facilitation matters,
• lack of incentives to contribute as much as possible to sustainable development.

To deal with these challenges, 106 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are negotiating a multilateral framework on investment facilitation for development.

In this context, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) have launched a project on "Investment Facilitation for Development." The project supports the negotiations of a multilateral framework on investment facilitation for development by:

• building negotiation capacity in developing (including least developed) countries,
• channelling ground-level and analytical expertise to negotiators,
• promoting public discussions of issues related to investment facilitation for development.

The project delivers three sets of complementary activities:

• Two focus groups of global experts have been established to marshal global perspectives:
• The Commentary Group on a Multilateral Framework on Investment Facilitation for Development consists primarily of experts from investment promotion agencies, investment service providers and the private sector; it is being implemented together with the World Economic Forum. These experts provide ground-level insights for the drafting of the framework.
• The Expert Network on a Multilateral Framework on Investment Facilitation for Development consists of academic experts who explore legal, political and economic challenges that need to be addressed to move the negotiations forward.
• The project delivers capacity-building workshops to delegates from Missions to the WTO to showcase best practices as regards putting in place and implementing investment facilitation measures for development.
• Regular webinars are organized for the general public, to provide insights from experts and offer a platform for public dialogue.

For further information, please contact Quan Zhao (zhao@intracen.org), ITC; Axel Berger (axel.berger@idos-research.de), DIE; Karl P. Sauvant (karlsauvant@gmail.com), Columbia University/CCSI

Events

Investment Facilitation for Development: Current discussions

The potential value-added of an Investment Facilitation Framework for Development

What can we learn from regional initiatives on investment facilitation

Integrating an international framework on investment facilitation for development into the WTO

Implementation Challenges for a Multilateral Framework on Investment Facilitation for Development

A multilateral framework on investment facilitation for development: issues concerning implementation

Investment Facilitation for Development: Looking Back and Looking Forward

The role of a multilateral framework on investment facilitation for development in facilitating sustainable fdi

Concrete Measures to Facilitate the Flow of Sustainable FDI