Registration for the WIF 2012

World Investment Forum Grand Opening and Welcome Banquet, followed by the UNCTAD Investment Promotion Awards

The Opening Ceremony will take place in the presence of the highest level representation from the host country, UNCTAD member States, the global business community, as well as the United Nations and other organisations.

The Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, along with distinguished invitees, will address the Opening and present the Investment Promotion Awards 2012. The Awards honour best-practices in investment promotion.

Investment Advisory Council Breakfast

Invitation only

Boosting pro-poor investment: encouraging the new asset class of pro-poor investments

The 10th Meeting of the Investment Advisory Council, a joint initiative by UNCTAD and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), offers a platform for consultations between Heads of State and government leaders and CEOs of global companies, as well as heads of international organisations. Participants will discuss pro-poor investment strategies that can foster sustainable economic growth, development and poverty reduction. Participants will focus on new initiatives and investment opportunities that positively impact the poor in the most vulnerable economies. They will analyze how to promote this new investment class and consider concrete investment proposals.

World Leaders Investment Summit

How can investment foster sustainable development?

The World Leaders Investment Summit will convene Heads of State and government with CEOs of the world's largest transnational corporations to discuss the role of sustainable investment in the new phase of globalization. State leaders will share their views on the main policy challenges facing developed and developing countries in shaping global economic governance and its investment pillar, while the world's leading CEOs will present corporate perspectives on changing business expectations in this regard. The Summit will provide participants with a rich, solutions-oriented discussion, drawing on the insight of the leaders present.

Questions to be addressed include:

• What are the opportunities and challenges emanating from the changing investment landscape?
• What can be done to foster responsible and sustainable foreign investment?
• How to promote investment for job creation and inclusive growth?

High-Level Investment Promotion Conference

Fostering interaction between stakeholders

In two sessions, senior government policy-makers, heads of investment promotion agencies (IPAs), corporate executives, and international investment location experts will discuss key issues related to FDI trends, as well as the new investment promotion policies and strategies needed to capture new types of investment.

Session I

Inside the corporate mind: a global picture

In contrast to global industrial output and trade, global FDI still lags behind its pre-crisis level. Risks and uncertainties still remain, including a spreading sovereign debt crisis, regional instability, huge currency volatility, and the rise of protectionism.

Meanwhile, many transnational corporations have emerged from the crisis with robust balance sheets and are in a position to expand globally. In this session, CEOs, senior policy makers, heads of investment promotion agencies, international investment location experts and other stakeholders will debate the prospects for global FDI flows, new investment initiatives and the strategies required to benefit from them.

Questions to be addressed include:

• How has the global economic crisis changed TNC's investment strategies? What are the global investment prospects?
• With the shifting regional balance in global markets and growth, what strategies should IPAs adopt to attract investors?
• How can FDI be channelled into the productive sector, including infrastructure and public services?

Session II

Creating competitive locations for green FDI

In their transition to a low-carbon economy, countries are creating green investment opportunities, but also capturing a fast growing new market and generating employment. Governments have been adopting strategies and policies to attract green FDI, often through the creation of green special economic zones (SEZs). These green SEZs are designed, developed and operated in a sustainable way and sometimes target specific activities in the value chain, like research and development (Cleantech Parks).

This session will discuss the effectiveness of special zones in creating competitive locations for green FDI, as well as promotional strategies and the role of IPAs in attracting investment to these zones.

Questions to be addressed include:

• If green industry is the objective, are the current green zones the right model for attracting investment?
• What is the potential of green SEZs or CleanTech parks for developing new clusters, creating jobs and attracting talent?
• How can IPAs be involved in attracting green FDI to SEZs and other locations?

2012 International Investment Agreements (IIA) Conference

Considering global investment governance

The IIA Conference 2012 will bring together IIA negotiators, investment practitioners, legal scholars, and representatives from civil society and the private sector to discuss how the international investment regime can work better for sustainable development. It will draw lessons learnt from the recent evolution of the IIA regime, with a view to identifying possible ways forward.

The IIA Conference 2012 will report to the UNCTAD XIII Ministerial Round Table (Sunday afternoon).

Questions to be addressed include:

• What are the key principles for maximising the IIA regime’s contribution to sustainable development?
• How can the coherence between international and national investment policies be improved, to better support sustainable development?

Sovereign Wealth Fund Round Table

Invitation only

Exploring the potential of sovereign wealth funds for development

Investment by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) is growing rapidly. With estimated total assets of nearly $6 trillion and the relatively high growth of emerging economies that own these funds, SWFs offer great potential to contribute to sustainable development through FDI.

In this session, senior executives from leading SWFs, policymakers, experts and international investment experts will explore best practices and appropriate policy measures, at the international and national levels, to maximize the impact of SWF-sponsored investment and actions that SWFs can take to promote sustainable investment.

Questions to be addressed include:

• How can investment by SWFs boost development objectives, for example in infrastructure, agriculture and climate change mitigation?
• What potential is there for a global mechanism to coordinate SWF activity - even a global SWF - to invest in sustainable development projects?

Investment Stakeholders' Networking Lunch

This networking lunch will bring together all participants attending the WIF 2012 in a more informal setting to find ways in which they can work together. At each table will be a mix of investors, policymakers, negotiators, lawyers, academia and civil society. The lunch provides an opportunity for the various Forum events to exchange views on their respective sessions and enjoy a menu of food-for-thought that will provide a stimulus for discussion.

High-Level Meeting on Accounting and Reporting

Accounting policies for investment and development

Accounting policies are critical for attracting investment and promoting financial stability. UNCTAD is holding this special high-level session on international standards of accounting and reporting (ISAR) to highlight the need for capacity building in accounting.

This meeting will bring together ministers, government officials, and heads of international organisations with standard setters and senior accounting policymakers to discuss the role of corporate transparency and accounting in promoting investment and economic development.

Questions to be addressed include:

• What are the main elements of a national accounting framework?
• What are the priority areas for capacity building to improve governance and transparency?

Ministerial Round Table

Addressing the policy challenges for investment and enterprise development

This roundtable is part of the UNCTAD XIII Conference proceedings: "Promoting investment, trade, entrepreneurship and related development policies to foster sustained economic growth for sustainable and inclusive development"

The Round Table will allow ministers and heads of international organisations to debate how investment and enterprise development policies can facilitate building productive capacity and integration into global value chains, in support of economic development. Deliberations will serve to guide investment policymaking at the national and international levels, with a view to maximizing sustainable investment, enterprise and development outcomes.

The Round Table will distill the visions, strategies and experiences that can contribute to a new policy paradigm for investment and enterprise development.

WIF Reception

A chance to reflect on the issues raised during the WIF and to look ahead to the fourth biennial meeting of the World Investment Forum in 2014.

Women in Business Awards and Gala Dinner

Invitation only

The Empretec Women in Business Awards also forms part of the Woman's Day events organised in conjunction with UNCTAD XIII and the host country. The Awards will be given to women-owned businesses that have benefited from the business development services of the Empretec programme – an UNCTAD programme for the promotion of entrepreneurship that operates in 32 developing countries.

This year's Awards include one new category: a micro-entrepreneur and start-up Award that will recognise the work of women entrepreneurs as inspiring role models for their communities and for other women.

WIF 2012 - The Forum for investment stakeholders worldwide

"We are entering a new phase of globalization that recognizes both the importance of productive investment for economic growth and the need to ensure that investment leads to sustainable development"

Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD)