Business-UN partnership provides investment knowhow
for LDCs
Geneva, 5
July 1999 – The United Nations Conference on Trade
and Development and the International Chamber of Commerce today announced first
results of a novel form of cooperation aimed at helping some of the world’s
poorest countries attract the foreign direct investment they need to further
their development.
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."
Major international companies participating in
the project are: Agip, Akzo Nobel, Anglogold, BNP, BAT, Bata, Bayer, BP Amoco,
Cargill, Coca-Cola, DaimlerChrysler, Eskom, Hilton Hotels International, Marubeni,
Moving Water Industries, Myungsung International Development, Nestl, Novartis,
Rio Tinto, Shell, Sheraton Hotels International, Siemens, SGS, South African
Breweries, Standard Chartered Bank, Unilever, Vodafone.
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.
Business
in Africa
Working with the
United Nations