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Blog of Paul WhitewayPaul WhitewayPaul Whiteway, an Associate Consultant of GDP Global, specialises in inward investment promotion. From 2003 to 2008, he worked at the centre of the UK’s inward investment network as...Read More ».
posted on Thursday, 25 Feb 2010 No Comments

This blog is aimed at diplomats posted overseas who have been given the task of managing an operation to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for the first time. Here are a few “do’s”:

Study the subject. Understand the basics of FDI promotion, such as how to build your country’s image as …

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

As expectations rise about what Foreign Direct investment can deliver, so competition between Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) grows. Meanwhile, Governments are becoming more and more demanding about the performance of IPAs and expect to see better returns …

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

The publication of the UK’s Foreign Direct Investment results each July is an eagerly awaited event for UK Trade & Investment and its regional partners. This year, the big question was whether the credit crunch would have …

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

As expectations rise about what Foreign Direct investment can deliver, so competition between Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) grows. Meanwhile, Governments are becoming more and more demanding about the performance of IPAs and expect to see better returns for the taxpayer.

In my …

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

The harsher economic climate brings obvious challenges for Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs). But this is not the time to back away from promotion: it is the moment to look afresh at your strategy. Agencies focused on facilitation should also look

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

I promised last month to say a bit more about how Investment Promotion Agencies might approach their task given the less favourable international economic environment. Well here goes!….

1. First, do not pull back from promoting FDI. This is not the time to do that. On the contrary, IPAs need to …

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

Today’s more difficult economic climate means that IPAs should pay more attention to cultivating existing investors. Otherwise they may fail to capitalise on opportunities for expansion and may even see some disinvestment. This means preparing and executing an investor …

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

Account Plans can be useful tools enabling Investment Promotion Agencies and their regional stakeholders to focus their promotion efforts in a coordinated way, avoiding duplication of effort. But they should not be allowed to become a big bureaucratic chore! Keep …

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

In my September blog, I suggested that if they have not already done so, now was the time for Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) to develop a clear Investor Development (ID) strategy to compete more effectively for investment in today’s harsher global …

posted on Thursday, 8 Oct 2009 No Comments

One of the principal challenges for an Inward Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) is how to encourage the wider investment promotion network to collaborate together effectively in targeting inward investors. Unless this is done, there is a strong possibility that uncoordinated approaches by different agencies to the same client …