Session 1 in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF)

With the world of work profoundly impacted by Covid-19, more and more companies embraced digital solutions. Statistics show that with two thirds of the world’s population is online, with a staggering 4.32 billion (92,6%) accessing the web through their mobile devices. Digitalization and the recent acceleration of digital tools & services will continue to have a significant impact on foreign direct investments and the world of work.

Yet, numerous challenges remain for governments to implement the right strategies and policies to attract more investment in digital FDI and to reap the benefits of this increased digitalization. As digitalization has a great impact on the labour market, talent creation and encompasses almost all sectors, investment promotion agencies (IPAs) are ideally placed to spearhead this process in advising their respective governments. This session aims to explore what policies and regulations governments can put in place to attract digital investments, how digital FDI can enable projects, which sectors are digital enablers and the role of IPAs in this process. The panel will also explore how IPAs and businesses together, can embrace digital tools. Moreover, the session will aim to shed light on which policies, regulations and measures are needed to create digital friendly investment climates to attract digital FDI.