The impact of COVID-19 from the perspective of IPAs

This paper was prepared by the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) from survey data collected in the first week of April and benefited from peer review. As such it gives a glimpse of the initial action taken by investment promotion agencies (IPAs) towards the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this survey was to understand the impact and initial challenges IPAs face due to this crisis and to examine actions by IPAs to mitigate and alleviate these shocks. By highlighting some of these measures, this paper aims to help IPAs to compare their own actions to those of their peers but also to serve as food for thought for IPAs to expand or align their services accordingly, and to provide recommendations based on the experience of WAIPA and its partners.

WAIPA & WEF joint paper: What can governments do to facilitate investment?

This paper was prepared as a technical input to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Structured Discussions on Investment Facilitation for Development and presented during an expert workshop at the WTO on 11 December 2019. It was jointly written by the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) and the World Economic Forum (Forum) and benefited from peer review. The aim of the paper is to present what investment practitioners identify as the most important measures to facilitate investment flows.

Overview of Investment Promotion
“Overview of Investment Promotion” reports the main findings from the WAIPA Annual Survey of 2018. Key findings from the report include:

• Number of IPAs worldwide increased substantially from 1990. On average an IPA is 18 years old.
• 58% of IPAs have budget less than 5 million USD.
• More than half of IPAs (51%) target FDI from China and USA.
• The most targeted sectors by IPAs are Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Tourism

The state of investment in OIC member countries and the role of Export Credit Agencies and IPAs

“The state of investment in OIC member countries and the role of Export Credit Agencies and IPAs” is the joint publication by ICIEC, SESRIC and WAIPA. Publication provides comprehensive overview on the state of investment in OIC countries, their FDI potential, and importance of ECAs (Export Credit Agencies) and IPAs (Investment Promotion Agencies) for reaching their development agendas.