August 31, 2000
Production for export markets and opening up to foreign goods, investment and technology has been the surest path for many developing countries that have managed to reduce poverty significantly. This was the core argument of Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo in making a robust defence of the global economy at the beginning of this year.
But how can developing countries attract foreign direct investment? What do they need to do to modernize and simplify customs procedures to encourage trade? How can they take full advantage of the opportunities of electronic commerce and new communications technologies?
These and other business-related subjects will be tackled at regional conferences for Latin America, Africa and Asia that the ICC is calling between now and the end of the year.
A key issue at all three conferences will be creating a favourable climate for foreign invesment and how a process known as "public policy benchmarking" can help. This involves checks on how countries' investment regimes match up to set criteria like ownership restrictions, the tax system, degree of trade protectionism, the legal system, corruption, labour legislation and political stability.
The first regional conference of the series will be in Cuba on 19-20 October. ICC national committees from all over Latin America will come to Havana to meet international business leaders, headed by ICC President Adnan Kassar and ICC Vice-President Richard D McCormick.
One of the main topics for the Havana meeting will be the experience of foreign investors since the introduction in 1995 of a law regulating foreign investment and the extent to which it has strengthened Cuba's economic capacity.
An Asia conference of ICC is scheduled for November 10-11 in Dhaka. A high point of the meeting is expected to be the publication of an investment guide to Bangladesh, the second to be issued in a joint programme by ICC and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
Finally, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo will open the regional conference on 20-21 November in Abuja on Africa's role in the global economy. A key-note session will examine how the private sector can speed development in Africa and which economic areas provide the best opportunities.
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