Almost 30 international companies are providing corporate expertise to the investment promotion agencies of six least developed countries in a pilot project that will later be extended to other countries.

The governments of China, Finland, France and Norway are providing financial support for the project, which got off the ground with an investment guide to Ethiopia, accompanied by an inaugural workshop in Addis Ababa. Other participating countries are Bangladesh, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique and Uganda.

UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero gave a progress report on the project at a meeting of ICC leaders and senior UN officials headed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has described the project as a show case for cooperation between the public and private sectors.

The report said: "Among the major obstacles that least developed countries face in achieving their full development potential is a lack of investment, including foreign direct investment (FDI)." While developing countries were attracting an increasing share of global FDI inflows – US$464 billion in 1997 – the least developed countries were receiving less than one-half of one percent of these flows.

The guides will provide an overview of socio-economic and political conditions and information on legal and other vital questions for potential investors. They will assess scope for improvements, and contain recommendations on how the countries can promote themselves more effectively.

They will answer such questions as how government policies toward direct investors compare with those of neighbouring countr ies through a process known as "public policy benchmarking."

The Guide to Ethiopia, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, noted that economic liberalization is underway and there is a considerable amount of privatization. Other pluses were fiscal stability, tax incentives and low inflation. Weaknesses were poor infrastructure, high illiteracy and the population’s low spending power.