Investment has come to be widely considered as an engine of growth. All developing countries are now concerned with promoting investment, whether from domestic or foreign sources. Given their domestic resource constraints, there is growing concern among developing and transition countries over the need to attract the higher FDI. The developing countries in general and the least developed and highly indebted countries in particular have in the past largely been dependent on bilateral and multilateral aid for financing their national development. Private foreign capital had not attained significance or received adequate attention in most of these countries till the early 1970s.

Their reluctance had partly been due to colonial past and partly due to perceived economic reasons like the burden of future dividend payments on the country’s balance of payments, the effects of the exercise of market power by multinationals, and a belief that internally generated growth should precede engagement in the international economy. There was a belief that the net outcome of FDI could be more negative than positive unless it was carefully regulated. Many of these objections still linger among opinion-shapers in developing countries.

Since the 1980s, a consensus has been growing, even among the developing countries, that the net result of any FDI is more likely to be positive. The phenomenal drop in total Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) in the 1990s has also forced most of these countries to increasingly look at FDI as an alternative source for financing development. It is considered to be a better option compared to bank credit, because of high and variable interest rates, and portfolio investment, which carries its own risks. It is also being considered as the principal channel for the transfer of long-term private capital, technology and managerial know-how, as well as a link between national economies and the world market.

Over the last twenty years or so developing countries have not only become permissive to FDI but have welcomed it and are now competing to attract it. As a result, the period has been characterised by liberalisation of investment regimes, raising demand for greater investor protection. Restrictions on the entry and operations of foreign branches and affiliates have been considerably reduced or eliminated. Property-taking measures have greatly diminished and investors are increasingly allowed to freely transfer their profits and capital, while guarantees of non-expropriation and free transfer of funds are now common. Also, settlement of investment disputes through arbitration is increasingly accepted. Overall, the environment has become much more conducive to a greater inflow of foreign direct investment.

Changes in worldwide government policies/laws on FDI give an idea of the magnitude of this tendency. According to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2001, of the 140 changes in FDI laws in 1999, 131 liberalised conditions for foreign investors. Most new measures by developing and transition economies reduced sectoral restrictions to foreign entry, or liberalised operations in industries earlier closed or restricted to FDI.

These changes in national FDI policies were complemented by signing of bilateral investment treaties (BITs), an increasing number of them involving developing countries. The record of BITs by itself shows how important it is for developing countries to enter into such arrangements to promote investment. In January 1997, there were 1330 BITs in existence, while on current reckoning the number of BITs is around 2000. Of the 130 BITs concluded in 1999, in 91 percent of the cases at least one of the parties was a developing country. These clearly indicate increasing eagerness of the developing countries to attract FDI.

Transnational Corporations (TNCs) made most of these investments. They, it is believed, try to enhance their competitiveness by spreading activities over different locations – to acquire a good portfolio of ‘locational assets’. The factors that determine such a move may be tax structure, special programmes and schemes, competition regime, entry and establishment requirements, investment protection, technology transfer, natural resources and skill levels, incentives and institutional mechanism. However, what actually determines the flow of FDI (and how) is a complex issue and is still inadequately understood. The issue, therefore, needs careful analysis.

The extent to which FDI contributes to the host economy by generating employment or engendering technology transfer depends on a number of macroeconomic and policy factors. These may vary across sectors in the economy depending on their existing capabilities and productivity levels so that FDI may generate growth and development in some sectors while having neutral or negative effects in others. Governments can enhance the benefits of FDI through a policy framework that creates development incentives for firms within a market structure. Competition policy and strong sectoral regulatory policies, taxation among others are likely to increase the domestic benefits of FDI. Policies focused on building domestic capabilities are also extremely important, such as education and training, policies to encourage technological upgrading and entrepreneurship.

In the light of these trends, the ‘Investment for Development’ project endeavors to study the investment regimes of selected developing countries and transition economies and build capacity on investment policy. There will be an emphasis on cooperation between countries and within and between regions, sharing information and experience and engendering joint initiatives.

Seven countries, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Hungary and Brazil have been selected for the purpose of the study.

In order to accomplish the mission “Building Capacity and Awareness on Investment Issues” and to achieve its goals (as mentioned below) the project will:

conduct a survey of the existing investment environment including economic and policy aspects with special attention on the policy-making and policy-implementation frameworks in place in the country;
assess the effectiveness of the policy regime in attracting and garnering benefits from investment;
identify problems in the policy framework of each country and suggest ways to strengthen existing policy measures and institutions dealing with investment;
generate recommendations relevant to other developing and transition countries paying due regard to national economic, social and cultural differences;
build capacity in understanding investment issues and policies with all stakeholders, especially civil society;
help build domestic constituencies for policies that “make investment work” by creating an advocacy group at national and international levels to pursue the necessary reforms;
carry out training and capacity-building for civil society at regional and international levels through seminars and the distribution of reader-friendly materials;
help developing countries establish their interests and develop negotiating strategies when dealing with issues in international investment agreements.

Goals

Main goals:

Assist project countries to design and implement effective investment policies that will contribute to equitable growth, development and poverty reduction;
To delineate measures that will help developing countries, in general, and selected countries, in particular, to construct an environment that stimulates domestic and foreign direct investment;
Contribute to the assessment of needs and formulation of negotiating strategies for developing countries for discussions on investment issues at the regional and multilateral levels.

In other words, to make appropriate recommendations to the targeted country governments and other stakeholders in order to make their investment regimes effective in the contemporary economic climate.

Secondary goals:

Raise awareness and stimulate national debate on investment issues
Build capacity in civil society on investment issues
Encourage a participative policy-making process for investment issues
Raise awareness of the impact of competition policy and sectoral regulatory policies on attracting beneficial investment
Encourage “good regulation” or “re-regulation” rather than just deregulation
Dampen competition for investment between countries
Arrest reductions in labour, environmental and other standards – the ‘race to the bottom’ – phenomenon, by examining and disseminating information on the relationship between standards and investment
Encourage cooperation, information sharing and joint initiatives across countries on investment issues

Outcomes

Reports

Project partners will prepare a report (Report A) covering aspects of the macro-economy; broad policy environment for investment; parameters of current investment policy and other related policies including differences across sectors/industries; policy developments over time. The report will be a reader-friendly document summarising the investment regime of the selected country for distribution to stakeholders.

These reports will be compiled by the core researcher to produce a further document (Investment Policy Comparison) covering areas of similarity and contrast, in particular with respect to policy; the researcher may also draw on examples of good practice from other countries. This document will inform the subsequent analysis and is not intended in itself to assess the effectiveness of policy.

Project partners will prepare a report (Report B) covering investor and civil society perceptions of the investment environment in each country and the country’s performance in terms of attracting FDI and securing benefits from FDI for the national economy. Inputs for the report will include secondary sources, official documents, economic data, survey and case studies. Case studies will be selected by the partners in consultation with the core researcher and CUTS. The criteria for the selection of the case studies and the requirements for the case study research will be defined jointly by CUTS and the core researcher taking into account the outcomes of the project process workshop to be held at the Launch Meeting.

The output will be a reader-friendly document that will present the results of the research and use these to generate a proposal for improving national investment policy and the investment climate.

These reports will be compiled by the core researcher in a further document (Investment Performance Comparison) along with survey data collected by CUTS and other sources of data. This document will use statistical and anecdotal evidence to assess the effectiveness of policies and to generate recommendations on appropriate policies for different macroeconomic and sectoral situations.

Partners will prepare a report (Report C) covering deliberations of the second NRG meeting and presenting a clear, prioritised set of policy recommendations.

CUTS will prepare an Advocacy Document based on research outputs and deliberations at the Regional Meetings which will give policy recommendations at the national and regional levels and action points for civil society. This document will be revised to reflect the deliberations at the Final Meeting.

Partners will prepare a report (Report D) covering activities and achievements in advocacy.

CUTS will prepare a final report (Project Process Report) covering the achievements of the project, problems encountered and solutions found and activities to take forward the project’s achievements.

Newsletters

Quarterly electronic newsletter.
Quarterly hard-copy newsletter.

The newsletters will be dedicated to investment issues.

Briefing Papers, Monographs etc.

The exact number and topics for the briefing papers and other incidental publications will be decided over the course of the project.

Seminars/meetings

Launch meeting – 13-14 December 2001
NRG meetings – January, May & October 2002
Interim meeting – Autumn 2002
Regional meetings – Autumn 2002
Final meeting – April 2003

Risk management

The risks or bumps that could arise, and how they would be managed:

Non-adherence to the agreed time frames. In order to minimise this risk, CUTS staff would do systematic and regular follow up with all those involved in the project. Also the release of funds to the partners would be pegged to timely deliveries.
Unsatisfactory quality of the output by project partners. Monitoring of quality by project staff and advisers should identify any quality problems early on. Partners will then make the necessary additions and revisions to improve the quality of the output on the basis of suggestions received. The release of funds is conditional on the satisfactory quality of output. In the event that outputs are still unsatisfactory even after revisions, an alternative partner will be sought to undertake that output and other outputs as necessary.
Termination of contracts with project partners. For this purpose a list of standby partners would be identified.
Turn over of employees. To meet with this exigency, staff planning is being done as a regular exercise, with division of tasks as primary and secondary responsibilities. Secondly, a strong system of filing and reporting is maintained, which does not create reliance on a particular person. Furthermore, institutional memory is maintained in a systematic manner through mandatory minuting and reporting of all the meetings (internal as well external), preparation of operational strategy note, events calendar etc.

Project management

Networking

One of the strengths of CUTS has been its networking capacity and outreach. This has been demonstrated in numerous cross-country projects including the 7-Up project currently being conducted in South Asia and Africa. International networking will be assisted by well-established relations with key IGOs, notably UNCTAD, WTO and the World Bank who will be involved in the project.

CUTS has used its network of contacts to identify suitable project partners in each of the countries. CUTS has had experience of working with most of these organisations before and has therefore established good and productive working relationships with them. The remaining organisations have been recommended by contacts with experience of working on investment issues in the relevant country. The partners have been approved by UNCTAD and the Advisory Committee.

Internal resource management

CUTS has previous experience of conducting large-scale international research and advocacy projects and will draw on this experience to assess the need for this project. Within CUTS, a dedicated team will work on the project. Frequent internal meetings will ensure that the whole team is kept informed of all the project developments, while the tasks and responsibilities of each team member will be clearly defined.

CUTS will be involving CUTS Africa Resource Centre as the project partner in Zambia and also coordinate the regional activities in Africa in the later stages of the project. CUTS-ARC has established an excellent regional network of contacts, including opinion-formers, and civil society organisation working on economic regulation and trade issues and has experience in coordinating international projects while maintaining strong national roots.

For better project implementation, timetables (general as well as specific), bar charts etc. shall be prepared for handy reference for the project partners, advisory committee and project staff. This operational strategy note would serve as the basic manual for smooth execution.

The project aims will not come to an end with the completion of the project period. As the project progresses, therefore, project staff and all participants will be engaged in envisaging how project activities and achievements can be taken forward. Future activities will be designed in such a way that they flow smoothly from the current project (Also see ‘Beyond Project’ below).

Project partners

For the purposes of the project, a partner organisation has been identified in each of the selected countries. The partner is responsible for the management of project activities in that country and will also contribute to regional activities through networking etc. CUTS has entered into contracts with each of the project partners, the terms of which have been tailored to the characteristics of the country and the scope of the work to be carried out by the partner.

In each organisation, an individual will assume the role of project manager and will serve as the contact point for CUTS.

Core researcher

Core researchers, Rakesh Basant and Sebastian Morris, will bring together the research results from the various countries into a cohesive whole, make comparisons and draw conclusions and policy recommendations applicable to a broad range of developing countries.

Their work will include:

Contributing to the research design (formulating a detailed outline for the research to be carried out by the project partners);
Preparing two reports
Taking part in the project meetings (launch, interim and final);
Contributing articles for the project newsletters

The core researchers were selected on the basis of their expertise in the area of economic aspects of investment policy.

Internal staffing

A project manager will be appointed. His/her duties will include supervision of core researcher & project partners, liaison with consultants & the advisory committee and overall responsibility for the day-to-day running of the project

The project manager will be assisted by a project team consisting of two researchers/ administrators. Their tasks will be:

To do secondary research and feed into the project
To conduct field survey and interviews outside the target countries
To assemble all project inputs and feed to the project core researcher
To assemble and monitor publications, especially newsletters
To monitor and organise outreach, distribution of publications, project contact databases, website and events

These staff members will be assisted by two support staff whose functions will include assisting the project team in organising and providing administrative assistance for travel, events etc.

Project advice

Advisory Committee

To ensure the success of the project in achieving its stated goals, a project advisory committee has been appointed. Advisory Committee members will provide valuable guidance. CUTS will keep AC members informed on the progress of the project on a regular basis.

The AC members have been selected to provide a range of views and experiences in terms of

Geography: AC members come from Asia, Africa and Europe,
Gender
Background: AC members include national and international officials, practitioners, academics, civil society, academia
Expertise: AC members include lawyers, economists and others

The AC members will play the following roles:

Contribute to the design of the project. AC members will participate in discussions in person and by email/telephone/fax etc. on both the process and content of the project. Their contributions will be duly noted and may be incorporated into project design documents.
Comment on project outputs (reports, briefing papers, newsletters etc.) as requested.
Assist CUTS and project partners as necessary in identifying and contacting stakeholders and network members
Assist CUTS and project partners as necessary in identifying and gaining access to sources of information relevant to the project.
Participate in project meetings as resource persons
Approve certain major process decisions during the course of the project.

UNCTAD

UNCTAD will provide support for the project in terms of information resources and advice and guide the project through their representation on the Advisory Committee. UNCTAD’s main role will be to collaborate with CUTS in the organisation of the Regional Seminars (RS) and in the international conference to be held as the Final Meeting of the project.

DFID

DFID, as donors, will also be encouraged to play an active role, working with the partner organisations at the national level and contributing in the planning, monitoring and outreach phases of the project. DFID will be represented on the Advisory Committee.

Private sector participation

Private sector input will be actively encouraged. Senior businesspeople and business organisations such as the Commonwealth Business Council, International Chamber of Commerce and World Economic Forum will be invited to contribute to work in progress throughout the study, including commenting on research outputs and taking part in advocacy and dissemination meetings.

Consultants

CUTS will engage two consultants to guide the project throughout the two years. These two people will be expected to contribute actively and continuously to the project and will be paid as appropriate for their services. The consultants will:

Contribute to the design of project activities providing inputs and feedback on all the project planning documents, both internal and external. They will produce drafts of terms of reference for research and other activities where necessary.
Provide detailed and prompt comments on all the project outputs which will be integrated into final outputs at the discretion of CUTS.
Stay in constant touch with CUTS staff on the project and provide assistance wherever necessary.

The consultants, Peter Muchlinski and Olivia Jensen, have been selected on the basis of their interest and ability in the subject matter and their commitment to the fulfillment of the project goals.

Partnering

As soon as possible after the launch of the project, country partners will begin working on outputs. Organisations in all countries have been identified and contacted. The scope of work and payment schedule has been distributed to them. The list of project partners is posted on the CUTS web site. The scope of work for the partners in South Africa, Tanzania, Hungary, Brazil and Bangladesh is set out in Annex B. As soon as the scope of work and payment schedule have been agreed by the partners, contracts will be signed. This is due to take place within 60 days of the project start date.

In the case of Zambia, the partner institution shall be CUTS-ARC.. The research for and preparation of Reports A and B will be conducted by an independent researcher.

In India, the research for and preparation of Report A will be carried out by an independent researcher. CUTS will enter into a separate contract with the individual for this purpose. CUTS will prepare the NRG list, while the country partner, NCAER, will organise events and prepare other reports. In addition, NCAER will produce a comparative study of the large developing countries, South Africa, India and Brazil.

In case of any dispute between the partner and CUTS should arise relating to the contract and efforts to resolve the problem amicably internally fail, mediation by an independent third party will be sought in accordance with international guidelines.

Outputs

Events and Reports

Creation of the NRG

As soon as the contract is settled, identification and formation of the National Reference Group in each country should commence. The purpose of the NRG is to provide a sounding board and quality check on the research outputs. NRG members will be kept informed of the progress of the project and information about the project would be distributed to all members.

The partner would be required to engage the following category of organisations/persons as members of the NRG:

Parliamentarians and/or Politicians
Officials from key national and sub-national Government Ministries e.g. trade/industry/commerce, finance etc.
Government Agencies and other quasi-governmental bodies relevant to investment issues e.g. Investment Promotion Agencies
Business representatives e.g. Chambers of Commerce
Civil society organisations with an interest in economic issues, Trade Unions
Academics and other experts, especially economists and lawyers
Media

Full contact information for NRG members should be compiled by the partners in a database, which will be shared with CUTS, to facilitate the distribution of information and the organisation of meetings and future activities.

Report A

The first output will be Report A, a study of the national investment policies of the selected country. This will include:

Overview of macroeconomic context and main policy trends,
Broad trends of foreign and domestic investment over time
Parameters of investment policy, including registration, rights to entry and establishment, investor protection, dispute settlement, international investment agreements, taxation, movement of capital, intellectual property rights regime, performance requirements, incentives for investment and export, characteristics of the regulatory regime (transparency, corruption etc.), regulation on competition, environment and labour; differences in policies across sectors
Institutional framework for investment policy-making, involvement of stakeholders in the policy process, relationship with the national development strategy or Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper where one exists.

The study will be based on the existing literature and will not require the collection of any primary data. The result will be a reader-friendly, non-technical document, for distribution to stakeholders. The first draft of the report should be completed by mid-November 2001. (In the case of Brazil, by end-November). The main findings will be presented and discussed at the Launch Meeting. The core researcher will also make a presentation comparing the findings of the documents at the Launch Meeting. CUTS will provide comments on the reports which should be integrated and the document finalised by end-January 2002.

Launch Meeting

13-14 December, Jaipur

Representatives of the following groups/organisations will be invited to participate in the project launch meeting:

Partners
Advisory Committee members
DFID
UNCTAD
International experts in the field of investment
Policy-makers in the field of investment.

There will be around 40-50 participants at the meeting.

A draft agenda for the meeting may be found in the Annexes. The meeting will be a two-day event. On the first day, international experts will make presentations on a variety of investment issues, in particular the current state of affairs in developing countries and how the needs of developing countries can be met. The second day will cover country presentations to be made by partners on the basis of their research. These will be followed by workshops that will design a detailed outline and methodology for Report B.

The methodology for Report B, including a “Perceptions Survey” targeted to domestic and foreign investors, will be refined using input from these discussions and distributed to the partners within one month of the meeting.

NRG Meeting 1

The partner will organise, as per schedule in the Activity/Time chart attached to this document, a meeting for 30-40 people, within the time frame as provided for in the activity/time chart appended at the end of this document. The main purpose of this meeting would be to attract attention to the project at a national level and kick off the research for Report B. Partners will finalise the date and Agenda in consultation with CUTS so that a representative of CUTS will be able to attend the meeting. As well as the key stakeholders represented in the NRG, the participants should be drawn in particular from two key groups: the business community – both domestic and foreign companies – and civil society. The questionnaire for the “Perceptions Survey” would be canvassed on this group. This would give partners a preliminary set of data and would also enable them to conduct the one-to-one interviews more effectively.

Report A Compilation

On the basis of the reports produced for each country, presentations and discussions at the Launch Meeting, a compiled report, the “Investment Policy Comparison” will be written by the core researcher. This will be distributed to the AC for comments by mid-March 2002, revised as necessary on the basis of CUTS and AC comments and finalised by beginning May 2003. This report will identify areas of similarity and contrast. It will be distributed to stakeholders within the project countries and in countries in the surrounding regions.

Report B

Study of perceptions and performance in investment in the selected country

Investment performance over time, by sector, by country of origin, correlation with policy changes
Presentation and analysis of the investor survey results identifying ‘pull’ and ‘push’ factors for investors
Presentation and analysis of the civil society survey results of perceptions of the contribution of FDI to the economy
Identification and in-depth research and analysis of 3-4 sector case studies. Research for the case studies will cover economic characteristics of the sector, policy treatment, investment performance, investor experiences etc.
Correlation of perceptions with actual investment environment
Assessment of the effectiveness of national investment policies and capacity-building needs in policy-making
Policy recommendations based on the assessment

This Report will draw on secondary sources and data from a survey (structured interviews using a questionnaire developed by CUTS of a small group of potential and actual investors in the country as identified by the partners in consultation with CUTS and structured survey of civil society groups with regard to perceptions about FDI) and case studies. The output would be a reader-friendly, non-technical document for distribution prior to NRG members. The first draft of the report should be completed by mid-April 2002. These reports will be circulated to the AC members and consultants for detailed comments. The reports should be revised and submitted in their final form by July 2002.

Concurrently, CUTS will carry out interviews using the same questionnaire with companies based outside the selected countries that are investing or considering investing in these countries. The results of CUTS’ research will be used by the core researcher(s) for the Report B compilation.

NRG Meeting 2

The main purpose of the second NRG Meeting, again for 30-40 people, would be to present the results of the research for Report B to stakeholders. This would serve as a reality check on the research work, increase awareness on investment policy issues and generate ways to act on the points that the research reveals. Partners should ensure that the timing of the meeting allows all of the key stakeholders to attend the meeting. The meeting should take place in May 2002.

Partners will prepare the agenda in consultation with CUTS. The main item of the agenda would be the presentation and discussion of Report B. Debate should be guided towards the identification of specific policy proposals. Report B should be circulated to the participants at least one week before the meeting so that participants have a chance to read and prepare their reactions to the document. Report B should be revised in the light of these discussions and comments from CUTS and the Final version submitted by July 2002.

Report C

After the meeting, partners should prepare a separate document, Report C, covering the discussions at the NRG meeting including:

Minutes of the meeting
Background and analysis of key areas of debate
Prioritised policy recommendations emerging from the meeting reflecting priorities

The report should be a reader-friendly document with clear policy recommendations and action points for other stakeholder groups reflecting consultation with but not necessarily endorsed by all stakeholders. The report should be approved by CUTS before finalisation. This report will be a key advocacy document and should be widely distributed in the country. The report should be finalised by September 2002.

Report B Compilations

Three compilations will be prepared on the basis of the reports and meetings conducted up to this point. The “Investment Performance Comparison: large emerging markets” study will compare South Africa, India and Brazil in terms of their investment performance. The “Investment Performance Comparison: LDCs” study will compare Zambia, Tanzania and Bangladesh. These studies will be prepared by experts familiar with these countries. They will be completed by November 2002 and will be distributed as advocacy documents at the national and international levels. They will be aimed at informed policy-makers.

The third compilation, the “International Investment Performance Comparison” study will be prepared by the core researcher within two months of the Interim Meeting. The compilation will draw on the research by partners and CUTS as well as other sources of statistical data and secondary sources. This study will involve economic analysis of the data and will assess policies and generate policy recommendations based on the analysis. This will then be distributed for comments to the AC and revised. This report will be distributed in a draft or final form at Regional Seminars and will inform the discussions there. The final version of the document will be completed by mid-December.

Interim Meeting

This meeting will provide an opportunity for project participants to take stock of achievements in the project so far and to plan ahead. The meeting will take place in second half of 2002 and will involve all the project participants (partners, AC, consultants, DFID, UNCTAD etc.). This meeting will be held jointly with one of the three regional meetings (see below).

There will be three main items on the agenda for the meeting:

Research results: Partners will present their research results in Report B. The meeting will provide an opportunity for oral discussion and debate with the AC on the quality and content of the individual reports and on commonalities and contrasts that are revealed. The core researcher(s) will take an active part in these discussions and will integrate them into the Report B compilation(s).
Regional reactions. Experts and stakeholders from non-project countries in the same regions will make presentations on their countries’ experience.
Process: All project participants will have a chance to air their views on process aspects of the project and make suggestions for how process can be improved for the second year of the project.
Future activities: There will be workshop discussions on how advocacy and networking can most effectively be conducted region-wide. The workshops will also discuss the most interesting and useful ways to compile the reports that have already been produced.

NRG Meeting 3

Following the Interim Meeting, partners will hold a third NRG meeting to retain momentum and to assess progress made in the national investment debate. The roles played/to be played by civil society organisations should be emphasised. Partners should also present some of their learnings on international experiences from the Interim Meeting at this event.

Regional network

By this time, partners should have developed an extensive regional network of stakeholders. Names and contact information of individuals and organisations will form the base list of invitees for the regional seminars.

Regional seminars

There will be three regional seminars, probably one in South Asia, one in Eastern Africa and one in Latin America which will take place in the third and fourth quarters of 2002. These events will be organised in collaboration with UNCTAD. The exact timing and location of the seminars will depend on other UNCTAD meetings to leverage resources and improve networking.

The main aim of the RS will be to build capacity in civil society on investment issues using the project results to inform this. The seminars will each last two-days. 20-30 participants will be immersed in the economic and political issues relating to FDI so as to enable them to better understand national, regional and international rule-making in this area.

UNCTAD and CUTS will develop the Agenda for these seminars and select Resource Persons including UNCTAD experts. Project researchers will also be able to present some of their findings at the seminars.

Advocacy Document

On the basis of the Report B compilation and the proceedings of the meetings, an advocacy document would be prepared by CUTS. This would be completed within two months of the last Regional Meeting and circulated to the AC for comments.

The Advocacy Document would include:

Key results of the research and analysis
National-level policy recommendations to attract beneficial investment
Action points for stakeholders, in particular civil society organisations
Recommendations for actions to be taken at the regional level to attract beneficial investment
Recommendations for actions to be taken at the bilateral, plurilateral and regional levels with regard to international investment negotiations

Final meeting

This would take place in second quarter of 2003. The meeting will be organised by CUTS with collaboration from UNCTAD. The parameters of this collaboration have not yet been defined.

All project participants would attend the meeting but the target audience would mainly consist of members of the Geneva trade community. At the meeting, CUTS would present the Advocacy Document. Experts and practitioners would make presentations on the state-of-play on investment issues at the multilateral level. The meeting would have four objectives:
Feedback from international trade experts on the content of the Advocacy Document to feed into the final version. Input from these sources will ensure that the final report is widely accepted
Disseminate project results to an international audience. Create awareness of the problems in attracting and managing investment flows that are revealed by the study and create momentum for technical assistance in capacity-building for developing countries
Raise awareness of the concerns of developing countries with regard to investment to feed into international level negotiations
Draw attention to project goals and achievements and debate how the achievements can be carried forward.

Report D

This report would be a summary of outreach/dissemination activities conducted and assessment of their impact including reports on regional and international meetings attended by the partner. This should be completed within 6 weeks of the Final Meeting.

Advocacy Document – Final version

On the basis of the proceedings of the Final Meeting, the Advocacy Document would be revised. The final version would be ready for circulation worldwide in July 2003.

Project Process Report

The final project report would address process aspects of the project. It would build on the partners’ reports (D) and would contain:

Assessment of project achievements
Problems encountered during the project and how these were overcome
Activities that could be undertaken to further the achievements of the project

This report will be submitted to DFID in August 2003.

Regular Outreach

A quarterly newsletter would be published during the project-period.

The newsletter will contain the following elements:

Update on project process
Highlights from the research
Selected news items on investment issues in project countries and at the international level

Each issue will focus on an interesting debate of current interest concerning investment. For each issue there will be:

Editorial/CUTS perspective on the topic
Viewpoints/articles from project participants/outside experts presented in a debate format
Letters/Articles/editorials from the media relating to the topic
Highlights of a paper on the topic

The newsletter may also contain an interview with a practitioner/investor/policy-maker and an investment case study.

The first issue will appear in November 2001.

E-newsletter

A quarterly electronic newsletter will be sent out to CUTS contacts in the development community. CUTS has an extensive network of contacts all over the world and the Investment Newsletters can be expected to achieve a broad reach. Within 6 months of the project launch, the e-newsletter would reach 300-400 recipients and the number would continue to grow throughout the course of the project.

The e-newsletter will contain summary updates of project progress, carry press releases concerning project events, selected headline news items concerning investment in the project countries and other items of interest. In view of the large amount of email correspondence that many people receive, the newsletter will be kept short and will contain links to full stories and documents to download which will be available on the website.

The main objectives are to attract the attention of a larger interested community and to stimulate awareness.

As a base, the mailing list for Reguletter, another CUTS publication, may be used and added to as the IFD network is built up.

Inputs would be invited from the project-partners on a regular basis. These may be items culled from the media and sent to CUTS for compilation or original articles on topics suggested by CUTS or decided by the partner in consultation with CUTS.

Other publications: Briefing papers, monographs, viewpoint papers and other incidental publications will be decided over the course of the project.

Website

A section of CUTS website will be dedicated to the project and regularly updated with progress reports and other news items. Most reports will be available to download from the site.
The page would contain links to other sites of interest and to project partners’ sites where possible. Project partners will be encouraged to carry information on the project on their own sites.

Email group

· An email group will be set up as a forum for debate on issues covered by the project.

Publicity

The project announcement and other related announcements regarding project-events would be carried in various newsletters, journals including electronic media etc.

Posters, brochures, leaflets etc. will be distributed during relevant national and international events.

Beyond Project

A separate session “what next” would be included at the proposed Geneva meeting to identify the areas and devise the mechanism to follow-up the project outcome.

The national, regional and international advocacy groups formed during the implementation of the project will carry on the debate after the project period is over. Depending on the national circumstances, it may also be possible to institutionalise these groups. The networks developed during the project can be a good channel for information dissemination even after the culmination of the project and continued circulation of the publications will also help to achieve the project mission over the longer term.

Proper assessment of needs and capacity building will be carried out and documented for the purpose of seeking support from donor agencies. If required, the existing network will be able to host and implement such projects, as sufficient capacity will have built among them.

Activity/Time Chart: Click here to download the activity/time chart

CONTACT US

CUTS Centre For International Trade, Economics & Environment (CITEE)

D–217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park,

Jaipur 302 016, India,

Ph: 91.141.2282821

Fax: 91.141.2282485

Email: ifd_cuts@rediffmail.com / cuts@cuts.org

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