Lima-Peru, 15/17 December 1998

The Workshop on Foreign Direct Investment Policy and Promotion in Latin America was held in Lima, Peru on 15 - 17 December 1998. The OECD Private Sector Development Unit, in co-operation with the Commission of the European Union and the Government of Peru, organised this workshop as part of an ongoing dialogue on foreign direct investment. Approximately 62 participants from OECD, Latin America and Caribbean countries and international organisations attended the workshop.

Opening addresses were delivered by Mr. Alberto Pandolfi, Prime Minister of Peru, Mr. Rainer Geiger, Deputy Director for Financial, Fiscal and Enterprise Affairs at the OECD and Mr. Rafael Dochao Moreno, Chargé d'affaires of the EU Delegation in Peru.

The meeting brought together high-level government officials from 9 OECD member countries and from 12 non-member countries, as well as representatives of the business community. In addition, several international organisations, including the World Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Organisation for American States, the Andean Community, the Foreign Investment Advisory Service, the UNCTAD, UNIDO and the Latin American Economic System attended.

The principal objective of the workshop was to share the experience on foreign investment policy and promotion in Latin America and to assess the prospects for sustained investment in the region. For this purpose, participants assessed current investment trends, reviewed policy developments and the need of multilateral rules and discussed specific aspects of investment promotion on the basis of country and case studies and presentations by international organisations. Two broad themes were addressed at the workshop: (a) Foreign Direct Investment: Trends, Assessments and Policies and (b) Best practice in promoting FDI in Latin America.

Participants agreed on the need of creating longer-term competitive advantages for countries of the region through an appropriate policy mix. This implies: open markets and the pursuit of regional integration, continuation of legal and institutional reforms, in particular in the field of tax systems, strong emphasis on education and human resources development, sound environmental policies including waste management and clean technologies, and the modernisation of the services sector. It was also suggested that greater efforts were needed to focus promotion activities on key sectors representing a comparative advantage and to undertake promotional activities on a regional basis. The need to give greater emphasis to integration of investment promotion, technology transfer and environmental performance was underlined.

For further information concerning this conference, including the programme and list of participants, download the synthesis report.