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Columbia FDI Perspectives

Perspectives on topical foreign direct investment issues
Editor-in-Chief: Karl P. Sauvant ([log in to unmask])
Managing Editor: Riccardo Loschi ([log in to unmask])

The Columbia FDI Perspectives are a forum for public debate. The views expressed by the authors do not reflect the opinions of CCSI or our partners and supporters.

No. 319   November 29, 2021

 

 

Launching a program for investment partnerships
by
Matthew Stephenson*

 
Growing opportunities exist for win-win collaboration on investment between governments in different economies. Policymakers should seize these opportunities to develop partnerships that build capacity, increase investment flows and promote sustainable investment. International organizations, in turn, can provide platforms and support to such partnerships.
 
The benefits of partnerships are being increasingly recognized. The clearest evidence is the growing number of memoranda of understanding (MOUs) signed between investment promotion agencies (IPAs) of different economies. Between 2010 and 2018, IPAs signed a steady trickle of MOUs a year, growing to nine in 2019 (not including an MOU signed by the BRICS).[1] These MOUs are generally broad in nature and do not often include work-programs. This Perspective proposes a two-part Program for Investment Partnerships to leverage political will and nascent frameworks and move to action. 
 
Part 1: IPA-IPA partnerships on knowledge sharing and good practices.  There is a natural twining that can occur between IPAs in developed and developing economies to share knowledge and experience. This could range from effective institutional arrangements to measures to increase investment’s contribution to sustainable development, from attracting digital FDI[2] to new digital tools. IPAs from developed and developing economies could pair up for peer-learning activities, with WAIPA potentially facilitating such pairings. The costs could be covered by official development assistance as forms of technical assistance and capacity building. IPAs have expressed they would be keen on this kind of cooperation (e.g., Business France and the Burundi Investment Promotion Authority), as well as members of the OECD IPA Network (which includes IPAs from developing economies) in their annual October 2020 roundtable.
 
For example, knowledge sharing can concern how to evaluate large-scale investment projects. This is often a challenge for IPAs in developing economies, where specialized knowledge may be needed to evaluate, for instance, long-term infrastructure investments. Yet, these investments are precisely those that institutional investors from developed economies are seeking to make; hence, it is in the interest of IPAs in developed economies to share knowledge and good practices, unblocking bottlenecks.
 
Part 2: IPA-Outward Investment Agencies partnerships on two-way investment. The above example presages opportunities for partnerships that facilitate two-way investment through IPAs’ cooperation with outward investment agencies.[3] Crucially, one economy’s outward FDI is by definition another economy’s inward FDI, leading to opportunities for win-win collaboration. These opportunities are real: firms from developing economies are increasingly undertaking outward FDI, resulting in their share of outward FDI reaching 45% of global flows in 2018, the highest level ever recorded.[4]
 
The challenge to such partnerships is institutional and two-fold. First, not all economies have given institutions responsibility for supporting OFDI, with around 60% of IPAs having this function.[5] Second, the natural home of OFDI support may be in export promotion agencies (EPAs) rather than with IPAs when these are separate institutions, given that domestic firms often progress from exporting to investing overseas.[6] As a result, EPAs need to be part of this effort. The recognition of this growing opportunity led the World Bank Group and WAIPA to sign an agreement to foster collaboration on two-way investment. According to anecdotal evidence, this is already happening: for instance, IPAs from Israel and the U.A.E. are discussing how to increase two-way investment.
 
So how can two-way investment be facilitated in practice? The key is to develop joint activities between IPAs and outward investment agencies, as this assures their win-win quality and that institutions see value in their participation. Possibilities include:

  • Joint business missions, promotion campaigns or roadshows.
  • Joint standing committees to help with aftercare and policy advocacy.
  • Joint matchmaking, linkages and supplier-development programs.
  • Joint financial support by host and home institutions (e.g., joint equity).
  • Jointly developed investment projects.

With jointly developed investment projects, for instance, IPAs in host economies can identify investment opportunities aligned with their development goals, while home economies’ outward investment agencies can provide local firms this information and operational support. The collaboration helps ensure that only projects contributing to sustainable development are supported, while the engagement of both host and home economies makes success more likely.
 
In conclusion, it is worth underscoring that investment partnerships can help advance the SDGs. SDG 17 calls for “global partnerships” to help achieve the other SDGs, and IPA-IPA or IPA-outward investment agency partnerships are excellent examples. Restarting investment flows following COVID-19 requires all hands on deck.

 


* Marian Ingrams ([log in to unmask]), Thomas Mason ([log in to unmask]) and Joseph Wilde-Ramsing are, respectively, Coordinator, Research Intern and Senior Advisor for the OECD Watch, the official representative of civil society to the OECD Investment Committee. This Perspective draws on OECD Watch, Get Fit: Closing Gaps in the OECD Guidelines to Make Them Fit for Purpose (Amsterdam: OECD Watch, 2021). The authors wish to thank Peter Muchlinski, Federico Ortino and Katia Yannaca-Small for their helpful peer reviews.

[1] Estimates from original research by WAIPA. Mauritius is exceptionally prolific, having signed 47 MOUs since 2003.

[2] Matthew Stephenson, Digital FDI: “Policies, regulations and measures to attract FDI in the digital economy”, September 2020, World Economic Forum.

[3] The term “outward investment agency” is used because the function of promoting OFDI is sometimes placed with IPAs and sometimes with EPAs. Between 1999 and 2015, the number of outward investment agencies increased from around 15 to 28, and is now about 50. Armando Heilbron and Hania Kronfol, “Increasing the development impact of investment promotion agencies” (Washington D.C.: WBG, 2020).

[5] See Heilbron and Kronfol, op. cit., pp. 188-192.

 

The material in this Perspective may be reprinted if accompanied by the following acknowledgment: “Matthew Stephenson, ‘Launching a program for investment partnerships,’ Columbia FDI Perspectives No. 319, November 29, 2021. Reprinted with permission from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (http://ccsi.columbia.edu).” A copy should kindly be sent to the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment at [log in to unmask].

 

For further information, including information regarding submission to the Perspectives, please contact: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, Riccardo Loschi, [log in to unmask].

 

Most recent Columbia FDI Perspectives   

  • No. 318, Marian Ingrams, Thomas Mason and Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, ‘The OECD MNE Guidelines: Recent complaints on emerging issues show the need to revise standards on responsible business conduct,’ Columbia FDI Perspectives, November 15, 2021
  • No. 317, Nicolas Hachez and Allan Jorgensen, ‘National Contact Points for responsible business conduct and access to remedy: Achievements and challenges after 20 years,’ Columbia FDI Perspectives, November 1, 2021
  • No. 316, Karl P. Sauvant, Matthew Stephenson and Yardenne Kagan, “Green FDI: Encouraging carbon-neutral investment,” Columbia FDI Perspectives, October 18, 2021

All previous FDI Perspectives are available at https://ccsi.columbia.edu/content/columbia-fdi-perspectives.


Karl P. Sauvant, Ph.D.
Resident Senior Fellow
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Columbia Law School - Earth Institute
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(212) 854-0689
Fax: (212) 854-7946

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Karl P. Sauvant, PhD

Resident Senior Fellow

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Columbia Law School - The Earth Institute, Columbia University
435 West 116th St., Rm. JGH 825, New York, NY 10027
p(212) 854 0689 | cell: (646) 724 5600 e: [log in to unmask]
wwww.ccsi.columbia.edu | t: @CCSI_Columbia

"Leveraging Digital FDI for Capacity and Competitiveness", "Green FDI: Encouraging carbon-neutral investment", "Facilitating Sustainable Investment to Build Back Better", "Extending International Legal Aid from Trade to Investment: An Advisory Centre on International Investment Law", "Increasing Transparency in Investment Facilitation: Focussed Support is Needed", Investment Facilitation for Development: A Toolkit for Policymakers, "More Attention to Policies! Improving the Distribution of FDI Benefits. The Need for Policy-oriented Research, Advice and Advocacy", "More and Better Investment Now!", "Facilitating Sustainable FDI in a WTO Investment Facilitation Framework: Four Concrete Proposals", "Multinational Enterprises and the Global Investment Regime: Toward Balancing Rights and Responsibilities”, "An Inventory of Concrete Measures to Facilitate the Flow of Sustainable FDI: What? Why? How?", are available at https://ssrn.com/author=2461782 .



--




Karl P. Sauvant, PhD

Resident Senior Fellow

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Columbia Law School - The Earth Institute, Columbia University
435 West 116th St., Rm. JGH 825, New York, NY 10027
p(212) 854 0689 | cell: (646) 724 5600 e: [log in to unmask]
wwww.ccsi.columbia.edu | t: @CCSI_Columbia

"Leveraging Digital FDI for Capacity and Competitiveness", "Green FDI: Encouraging carbon-neutral investment", "Facilitating Sustainable Investment to Build Back Better", "Extending International Legal Aid from Trade to Investment: An Advisory Centre on International Investment Law", "Increasing Transparency in Investment Facilitation: Focussed Support is Needed", Investment Facilitation for Development: A Toolkit for Policymakers, "More Attention to Policies! Improving the Distribution of FDI Benefits. The Need for Policy-oriented Research, Advice and Advocacy", "More and Better Investment Now!", "Facilitating Sustainable FDI in a WTO Investment Facilitation Framework: Four Concrete Proposals", "Multinational Enterprises and the Global Investment Regime: Toward Balancing Rights and Responsibilities”, "An Inventory of Concrete Measures to Facilitate the Flow of Sustainable FDI: What? Why? How?", are available at https://ssrn.com/author=2461782 .

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