Twenty-two Thai ambassadors posted in Europe participated 22-23 July in an UNCTAD workshop in Geneva on trends and policies in foreign direct investment (FDI), investment promotion practices and the role of the diplomatic service in attracting FDI. This is the first time that UNCTAD has organized such training for ambassadors.
The training workshop draws on UNCTAD´s analytical work on investment and on its technical cooperation programmes, which include training courses for diplomats on investment promotion and investor targeting and best practices of investment promotion agencies and diplomatic services in developed and developing countries. Officials from the Canadian diplomatic service and the Swiss Organisation for Facilitating Investments (SOFI) were among the guest speakers.
The initiative is a direct outgrowth of the cooperation established between UNCTAD and the International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD), which was created in 2001 and is based in Bangkok, Thailand. The Institute´s main objective is to assist developing countries in the region in building capacity to meet the challenges of globalization and to strengthen regional economic cooperation and integration.
