Hosted since 1995, the WAIPA World Investment Conference (WIC) is a forum where IPAs convene to address current economic and social issues that may affect global investment flows and other strategic and policy considerations. The Conference includes formal panel presentations, ample networking opportunities and social events for the Membership. Past panelists include (i) global leaders (e.g. current or former politicians, knowledgeable governmental and relevant international organization officials); (ii) business leaders (i.e. chief executive officers and other senior executives with global responsibility) and (iii) other influencers (e.g. world-recognized business or economic commentators, members of academia, renowned economists etc.). The topics of the panels are selected based on current events and trends.
WAIPA organized its jubilee 25th WAIPA World Investment Conference as a hybrid event. After a long break, many of the FDI leaders and experts travelled and met familiar faces in person for the first time after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The WIC21 which was held under the theme “Regeneration of IPAs in a new decade” took place in person in Dubai, alongside the Dubai Expo 2020 on 20 October 2021 and virtually on 21 October, alongside the UNCTAD World Investment Forum and brought together IPAs from all over the world, government officials, development sector leaders, decision-makers from the private sector and academia relevant to FDI policy and strategy in two days of discussions on the crucial importance of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) during and after the pandemic that impacted lives and economies globally.
The conference featured a notable line-up of panelists who in several panels reviewed the past two and a half decades of investment promotion, debated the rise of digitalization and the importance of data-driven investment promotion, and examined how investors and locations alike benefit from IPAs and how IPAs are able to highlight their role further as a critical element in the promotion and facilitation of investments.
