This learning series starts with the fundamental question of why foreign investment matters for development. The investment reform map is the framework to lay out the vision and strategy. The Investment Policy & Promotion team of the Investment Climate Practice Group under the World Bank Group's Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice introduces practical tools developed to assess a count... view more
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Why Foreign Investment Matters
The role and importance of foreign investment for growth and competitiveness; the Investment Reform Map; policy implications.
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Investment Incentives
Investment incentives key concepts; overview of the tools and approaches for understanding the effectiveness of incentives and improving incentives-related outcomes.
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Investment Promotion
Strategies and approaches for investment promotion to attract FDI; institutional capacity; effective investor outreach and marketing; and investor aftercare.
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Investment Entry
Improving FDI entry; strengthening the legal and regulatory regime and governance and transparency; streamlining investment-related procedures.
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Why Investment Protection Matters
Key political risks impacting foreign direct investment; overview of the essential guarantees to attract and retain FDI.
Christine Zhenwei Qiang is Practice Manager for Investment Climate of the World Bank Group’s Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice. Her teams advise client governments on catalyzing reforms that foster business competitiveness, connect firms to global markets, maximize the benefits of private investment, and create jobs.
Roberto Echandi is the Global Product Leader of the Investment Policy Program at the World Bank Group’s Investment Climate Practice Group. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, he was Director of the Program on International Investment at the World Trade Institute (WTI) of the University of Bern. Roberto is also a member of the faculty of the Masters in International Law and Economics (MILE) at the WTI, and of the Masters in International Economic Law (IELPO) at the University of Barcelona, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of International Economic Law (JIEL), and the Journal of World Investment and Trade (JWIT).
Ivan Nimac is Head of the Vienna Office of the Investment Climate Practice Group of the World Bank Groups's Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice. Ivan leads a team which provides Investment Climate advisory services to client governments in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. His group focuses primarily on advising client governments on improving their investment climate, including investment policy, business taxation, foreign direct investment (FDI), trade logistics, and follow-up advice on the Doing Business report in order to improve national and sector competitiveness.
Harald Jedlicka is Senior Investment Policy Officer in the Investment Climate Practice Group of the World Bank Group's Trade & Competitiveness Global Practice. He specializes in investment policy reform and leads the unit’s work on investment incentives. Harald is an experienced FDI practitioner, having spent several years in the field of investment policy and promotion. He has advised over 15 countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and East Asia on designing policies for attracting foreign investors.
Yago Aranda Larrey is an Investment Policy and Promotion consultant based in Washington DC, working in the Investment Climate Practice Group of the World Bank Group's Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice. He supports projects related with Investment Policy and Promotion and Investment Climate issues across different regions. Prior to that, he worked for the Spanish Ministry of Economy in the Economic and Commercial Office of New Delhi in India as an Investment Advisor. He has extensive experience in providing advisory services to private and public stakeholders.
Peter Kusek is a Senior Investment Policy Officer in the World Bank Group’s Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, advising client governments on business environment reforms. He specializes in foreign direct investment regulation and administrative practices. He also leads the investment climate analytics program. Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Peter worked on small-enterprise development in Bangladesh and on microfinance in Tanzania. He was also program manager at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based foreign and security policy think tank. Peter holds a master’s degree in economic policy and international development from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Xavier Forneris is a senior specialist in the Investment Climate Practice Group of the World Bank Group's Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice, focusing on investment climate and investment policy reforms (including market access, investment incentives, investor protection, special economic zones, and responsible investment). Xavier has been the group’s lead expert on investment codes since 2001 and has contributed to the review and reform of investment laws in about 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe-Central Asia, Latin America-Caribbean, and Middle East-North Africa regions. He also led as project director and co-author the preparation of the IFC Handbook on Investment Law Reform (2010). Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Xavier worked for two renowned centers providing economic and legal reform Technical Assistance in developing countries: the IRIS Center at the University of Maryland (Associate Director) and the International Development Law Organization, or IDLO (Senior Counsel).
