Some 25 Peruvian diplomats posted in Europe have been participating this week in a training workshop in Geneva on investment promotion strategies and practices and the role of the diplomatic service in attracting FDI. After Brazil, Egypt, and Thailand, Peru is the fourth country to organize such a workshop in cooperation with UNCTAD.
The workshop (28-30 September) follows the investment policy review of Peru, which UNCTAD carried out in 2000. With the financial support of the Government of Switzerland, other follow-up activities are also under way, including the development of investment promotion strategies for Peru´s various regions and assistance to the national investment promotion agency, Proinversión, through training and the development of Internet-based investment promotion tools.
According to UNCTAD´s World Investment Report 2004, Peru last year attracted $1.38 billion in FDI. These inflows are expected to rise in 2004, thus reversing the recent downward trend. At the workshop, transnational corporation representatives agreed with this prediction, saying they consider Peru to be an attractive investment destination due to macro-economic stability, a high and growing GDP and a substantial export increase in recent years. The President of Puno, one of the country´s fastest- growing regions, and the Director of Proinversión -- both of whom have attended the workshop -- highlighted the need for collaboration with all stakeholders to promote investment opportunities and presented concrete proposals for joint work with the global network of Peruvian embassies.
The workshop draws on experiences gleaned from UNCTAD´s technical cooperation programme in both inward and outward investment promotion, including its training courses for investment promotion officials, and on the organization´s analytical work on investment issues. Presentations by UNCTAD officials and experts from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland have focused specifically on the Peruvian situation and the application of international best practices. Special attention has been devoted to improving the functioning of subnational investment promotion agencies.
