This is the 8^th of a webinar series on investment facilitation for development, held in the framework of a joint ITC/DIE project on Investment Facilitation for Development.

The webinar will focus on implementing an investment facilitation framework for development, while learning from the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) experience. The WTO Investment Facilitation Framework for Development (IFF4D) includes investment facilitation provisions dealing, among others, with improving the transparency and predictability of investment frameworks; streamlining procedures related to foreign investors; focal points, domestic regulatory coherence and cross-border cooperation; special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries (LDCs); and sustainable investment—with a view towards increasing foreign direct investment (FDI) flows that contributes to development.

Many developing countries and especially LDCs will have to make substantial efforts to implement an IFF4D, and these efforts will need to be supported by considerable technical assistance for capacity building, to ensure that host countries benefit from the agreement. The webinar will discuss some of the issues that will need to be considered in this respect, in particular lessons learned from the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and the role of special and differential treatment.

The webinar will have the following agenda and speakers:

Introduction

• Rajesh Aggarwal, Chief Trade Facilitation and Policy for Business, ITC

Moderator

• Karl P. Sauvant, Resident Senior Fellow, Columbia University, CCSI

Speakers

The state of play of the WTO negotiations of an Investment Facilitation Framework for Development” 

• Mathias Francke, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Chile to the WTO, Coordinator of the Structured Discussions on Investment Facilitation for Development

Learning from the experience of implementing technical assistance in the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement

• Mohammad Saeed, Senior Trade Facilitation Officer, ITC

What kind of special and differential treatment provisions should be included in an IFF4D

• Bernard Hoekman, Professor and Director of Global Economics, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Italy

The experience gained with implementing the TFA in Zambia: lessons for implementing the IFF4D

• Kayula Siame, Permanent Secretary, Zambia Ministry of Higher Education

Concluding remarks

• Axel Berger, Senior Researcher, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)German Development Institute

If you would like to send written questions or comments during the webinar, please feel free to type them into the chat window by clicking on the “chat” button on the middle-bottom pane of the Zoom window.

To join the meeting, kindly click on the link that will be sent to you shortly before 15:00 pm CET on 15 September and follow the instructions. If you are not able to connect online, you could connect using the dial-up options provided in the email that you will receive after completing the registration.