The Executive Director of the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), Bostjan Skalar and the Secretary-General, D. Zurab Pololikashvili of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which was supposed to be signed at the Executive Council in Georgia, but due to the ongoing pandemic was approved digitally.
By signing the MoU, WAIPA and UNWTO are aiming to enhance cooperation and to develop a long-term relationship in projects including the following areas with a focus on tourism:
- Promotion of Foreign Direct Investment
- Guidelines, Policies and Strategies on Foreign Direct Investment
- International and Sustainable Investments
- Investment Networks facilitation
The cooperation with UNWTO, which recognizes the significant contribution that can be made by the private sector to its strategic objectives and therefore actively promotes cooperation arrangements with private sector stakeholders is also in line with WAIPA’s viewpoint on leveraging partnerships with the private sector to enhance the foreign direct investments to the tourism sector.
At WAIPA’s General Assembly held on 7 December, the UNWTO was officially incorporated as a Consultative Committee member of the WAIPA. The Consultative Committee of WAIPA is a subsidiary advisory body of the association that consists of global international institutions such as UNCTAD, UNIDO, ICC, IEDC, ILO, OECD and the World Bank.