The Foreign Investment Advisory Service, a joint facility of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, was established to help governments of developing member countries to review and adjust the policies, institutions, and programmes that affect foreign direct investment (FDI). The ultimate purpose of FIAS is to assist member governments to attract beneficial foreign private capital, technology, and managerial expertise.

This workshop proceedings examines foreign direct investment policy and promotion in Latin America.

Investment promotion agencies (IPAs) exist in almost all countries around the world, but there has been no global attempt to determine whether they have been able to significantly influence the investor's decision to locate in one country rather than another. 'The Effectiveness of Promotion Agencies at Attracting Foreign Direct Investment' is the first empirical study of the effectiveness of these agencies in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).This study finds that promotion is unambiguously associated with greater FDI flows. The effectiveness of promotion, however, depends on: • the quality of the investment climate, market size • the level of development of the country • the IPA's budget and type of activities it carries out • communication with the highest level of policymakers and support from the private sector. An important resource, 'The Effectiveness of Promotion Agencies at Attracting Foreign Direct Investment' provides many lessons about how to carry out effective investment promotion.

Establishing an investment promotion agency has become a central part of most countries' development strategies. Today there are more than 150 investment promotion agencies worldwide. Yet very little is known about what these agencies have been really doing, notably in emerging countries, and whether they have been effective in influencing investors' decisions. Using data from a new survey on 58 countries, Morisset shows that greater investment promotion is associated with higher cross-country foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, on top of the influence of the country's investment climate and market size. But this result has to be qualified on several counts. First, the effectiveness of the agency depends on the country's environment in which it operates. An agency in a poor investment climate is less effective at attracting investment. Second, the scope of activities that an agency undertakes influences its performance. Morisset's empirical analysis indicates that agencies devoting more resources on policy advocacy are more effective because such activity is not only beneficial to foreign investors but also to domestic investors. In contrast, investment generation or targeting strategies appear expensive and risky, especially in countries with poor investment climates. Finally, certain internal characteristics of the agencies are associated with greater effectiveness. The agencies that have established reporting mechanisms to the country's highest policymakers (the president or prime minister) or to the private sector have been systematically more efficient at attracting foreign direct investment. Such institutional links are crucial because they contribute to strengthen the government's commitment as well as reinforce the agency's credibility and visibility in the business community.

Promotion of foreign direct investment (FDI) has been a priority policy goal in Central America, Panama and Dominican Republic for the past twenty years. Fiscal benefits are among the policies that have been used to attract it. At first sight the model followed has been fruitful. In 2013 the eight countries of the region succeeded in attracting US$ 12.7 billion, the highest level of FDI in their history. But there are question marks about how FDI will perform in future and what the incentives to promote it should be now that World Trade Organization rules on the instruments used to promote FDI in the region have changed. The present book analyzes this situation in depth. Firstly, it reviews the importance of FDI in the region as a source of financing for the external deficit. Then it reviews the findings of international economic research on the impact of FDI on growth and the factors that attract it. It highlights that far from being assured, the benefits of FDI depend on complementary factors which are often not present in the region. Subsequently the book analyzes the international evolution of FDI and the growing importance of multinationals of Latin origin. It then tackles the controversial question of the efficacy of fiscal incentives as a means to attract investment, following an innovative technical approach based on firm level data which questions whether the free zones have had a net positive impact on development. This analysis is complemented by a study of investment promotion policies, which focuses particularly on the Investment Promotion Agencies. Finally, the book outlines the prospects for FDI attraction now the sun has set on strategies based on providing fiscal incentives. It argues that a new strategy should be based on the creation of new skills and capacities through instruments designed to complement productive development policies and thereby generate positive spillovers in the economy.

This book provides an overview of international investment policy and policy-making, drawing upon perspectives from law, economics, international business, and political science. International investment is a complex phenomenon with significant effects worldwide. Developing effective policies and strategies to attract investment in sufficient quantities and marshal it to contribute to sustainable development is a critical challenge for governments at all levels. This book’s interdisciplinary approach provides fresh insights into the mix of policy options available to governments seeking investment to support their country’s (or region’s) development. As well as identifying ways to effectively design, implement, and assess policies to attract foreign investment, it explores how to manage foreign investment’s effects. Various dimensions of international investment policy are discussed, including benefits and costs (economic, environmental, social, and political) of foreign investment, the significance of global value chains, state-owned enterprises and sovereign wealth funds, and the role of tax policy, investment promotion, and policy advocacy, location branding, investment treaties, and national security considerations. Through its contributions to a new interdisciplinary understanding of international investment policy-making, this book will benefit students and scholars working in areas such as international business, international economic law, international economics, development economics, international development, and international political economy as well as being a valuable resource for policy-makers.

The report reviews lessons from the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) investment, and advisory experience in the developing world, which show the interactions between policy frameworks, and the volume and structure of foreign direct investments (FDI). Case studies show how the Corporation promotes successful project structures, and regulatory changes, as it tries to attain the strongest development impact for investments. In developing countries, FDI has flowed mainly into manufacturing, and processing industries. In the past, investment attractiveness had been closely linked to possession of natural resources, or a large domestic market, while production and trade globalization, competitiveness as a location for investment, and exporting, have become the main determinants of attractiveness. Sources of FDI in the past, came almost exclusively from industrial countries, though recently those sources have widened, emerging from developing countries in their own right, and for their own regions. IFC, as an international initiative to promote FDI in developing countries, is liable to promote bilateral trade agreements, bilateral and multilateral financial institutions, and investment promotion programs; its advisory role may vary from diagnostic studies overviewing constraints to FDI, to investment policy studies giving specific solutions on either changes, or strategies. The study further looks at how policy environment is set, and at finding investor opportunities, through project financing, largely structured as joint ventures. The inherent, fragile nature of joint ventures, restricts foreign ownership, thus limiting project structures; however, careful project design has lead to successful operations, by ensuring management, and financial arrangements. Still, to maximize benefits, an unfinished agenda of policy reform remains, and, as more countries open to FDI, this integration will lead to an overall increase in FDI flows.

This book outlines China’s current overseas investment promotion system, analyzing the general situation and the main problems arising during its development. Based on investigations of both the historical and present-day contexts of outbound investment, the book suggests improvements to overseas investment promotion to protect China’s enterprises from various aspects of the system including legal, regulatory, fiscal, intellectual property rights and standardization, risk prevention, foreign trade and economic cooperation zones to promote overseas securities investment promotion and social services.

This book is the first to systematically map the last step of the foreign investor’s journey, usually referred to as post-investment, aftercare or business retention and expansion. It provides a wide range of approaches and strategies for host economies to better retain foreign investors, encourage follow-on expansions and achieve greater local economic embeddedness through a multi-stakeholder dialogue, leading to improvement of the overall business climate. Global foreign direct investments reached US$1.5 trillion in 2019, but this figure reduced by over 42% in 2020, due to the pandemic. Against this backdrop, retaining established investors became even more important. Numerous organisations all over the world are dedicated to attracting foreign companies to invest in their markets. Facilitating this effort is a dynamic and competitive industry that involves international organisations supporting capacity building, think tanks, academia and consultants. However, once foreign companies decide to invest, a critical question arises: how can host economies grow and retain these foreign investments? Many host governments could do much better, as there is very little post-investment support for these foreign companies to help them grow their businesses throughout different stages of investment, business and economic cycles. This is where aftercare comes in. In this book, the authors include diverse examples from around the world to demonstrate aftercare best practices in action. This book is an essential read for all public administration staff related to FDI attraction and promotion, practitioners in the private sector and FDI consultants. It will also be of great interest to multilateral organisations seeking to organise seminars and training courses for capacity building. The book will also benefit researchers, academics and postgraduate students of international relations, foreign trade and internationalisation. For further information, see www.aftercareexplained.com.