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EU and World Bank Group share views with the business community in Egypt

Global Arab Network - - Rabih Serrai

Thursday, 11 February 2010 14:30

Over 70% of the investment promotion intermediaries (IPI) in the world may be missing foreign investment projects because they do not respond to investors in an appropriate way.
This is the main outcome of the Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking report published by the World Bank Group. According to the World Bank Group's investment promotion specialists of Investment Climate Advisory Services (ICAS), the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), is one of the weakest performing regions in the world and is in danger of falling further behind.

“In spite of the private sector's growing role in regional economies, the rate of private investment in MENA countries is only about half that of many other countries that were able to achieve sustained high levels of growth,’ considers Mr. Mohieldin, Minister of Investment in Egypt. Most MENA governments are eager to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to diversify their economies, to create jobs for their young, growing and often highly skilled populations. However, a bureaucratic approach to investment facilitation too often stifles interaction with potential investors.

Opportunities do exist as the MENA region is starting to benefit from a global recovery with GDP growth expected to accelerate to 3.7 percent in 2010 (from 2.9 percent in 2009). A recent Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) report suggests that global multinational enterprises maintain a positive FDI outlook with almost 40% intending to increase foreign investment over the next year and to shift their investments from developed to developing countries. Understanding and addressing investor concerns remains key as countries in the region compete for a greater share of global FDI. Good investment facilitation can make a difference.

Efficient tools do exist to boost regional IPI's performances as will be shown during the seminar, entitled: The makings of a good Investment Facilitator: lessons to be learnt from top performers. Co-organised by the World Bank Group and ANIMA Investment Network in the framework of the EU Invest in Med programme, the seminar will be hosted by Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), which recently took over the presidency of the ANIMA network.

Forty key executives of Mediterranean Investment Promotion Agencies, CCIs and other Business Support Organisations will therefore have a unique opportunity to assimilate the methodology and findings of ICAS' Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking and to learn from individual evaluation and coaching. Peer-exchanges and best-practices sharing sessions will help them to improve their performances and become effective facilitators. Representatives from MIGA will also present findings from the agency’s recent World Investment and Political Risk report and will highlight key FDI trends and investor intentions and concerns for the region.

ANIMA will disclose the most recent trends of FDI in the area. According to its observatory, the decline has been relatively strong: 541 FDI projects in 2009 vs. 863 in 2008 (- 37%); 56 billion euros in gross volumes, against 66 billion in 2008 (- 15%); 29 billion euros in net volumes (amounts corrected for the multi-stage projects), vs. 42 billion in 2008 (- 31%) The ANIMA data are on line with those of UNCTAD (decrease of 39% in global FDI flows in 2009).
There are however strong signs of recovery: 10 projects ranging between 1 and 2 billion euros; 4 mega-projects higher than 2 billion euros (e. g. Barwa Real Estate in Egypt et al. Maabar in Jordan). In terms of annoucements, the 4th quarter of 2009 by far is the best of the year: 182 FDI projects or one third of the annual total.

The seminar will conclude on February 11 with a large public conference titled Mediterranean Investment Facilitators: New challenges ahead. Mr. Mohieldin, who will be addressing the conference audience and making the closing remarks, is very optimistic: “The road to 40 million new jobs has challenges but history has shown that leaders in the Middle East and North Africa region can make things happen. Today's generation wants to be part of these positive changes.”

Global Arab Network

Extracted from "Organization release"

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