PROINVERSION AND OECD ORGANIZE WORKSHOP ON PROMOTION OF INVESTMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN LA

The event – opened by the Executive Director (e) of ProInversión – aimed to encourage discussions on policy options to promote, attract and facilitate quality investment in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and the corresponding role of the Agencies Investment Promotion (AIP).

“We consider it important that, during this workshop, a dialogue space is generated that allows the development of new strategy proposals for the promotion of investments for sustainable development, considering that this topic covers the economic, social and environmental dimension, and implies necessarily the strengthening of relations between governments, companies and communities,” said the executive director (e) of ProInversión when stating the welcoming words.

Speakers and assistants, Latin American AIP managers and experts, government representatives from the areas of investment and development, members of international organizations, company representatives, workers’ and civil society associations, as well as invited academics and researchers attended. The workshop allowed participants to benefit from an exchange of perspectives and a productive discussion on issues and questions:

– How is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) related to sustainable development?
– Investment promotion agencies in Latin America and the Caribbean and the OECD: What do they do and how do they do it?
– Investment promotion agencies in Latin America: What is the role of investment facilitation and promotion?

The speakers and panelists stated that FDI can contribute significantly to sustainable development, since it provides resources and generates positive side effects on host economies.

They also mentioned that AIPs have as one of their main mandates to promote and attract sustainable FDI. To this end, they aid companies and projects that can generate positive socio-economic results.
They mentioned that the facilitation and retention of investments (including aftercare and policy advocacy) are one of the main functions of the agencies through which AIPs can offer value-added services to investors that allow reducing costs and time administrative procedures.

Why is it organized in Peru?
Peru has supported the OECD Regional Program for Latin America and the Caribbean and the OECD Latin American and Caribbean Investment Initiative since its inception. It hosted the LAC investment conference in 2015, which also served as a regional consultation platform for updating the investment policy framework.

Peru has also acceded to the OECD statement on international investment and multinational companies and regularly participates in the meetings of the OECD investment committee. ProInversión also functions as a National Contact Point for OECD guidelines for multinational companies. It should be noted that Peru is in the process of adhering to the OECD codes for liberalization of capital transactions and invisible operations. It is the first country to request accession to this instrument out of an access process to the OECD.

Finally, through the workshop, ProInversión continues its joint work with the OECD and facilitates the dissemination of the main findings of the report, through discussions between professionals and those responsible for formulating public investment policies.