INVEST IN SPAIN takes up Vice-Presidency of World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA)

Buenos Aires, 29th of June 2010. The Government Agency for the promotion and attraction of foreign investment, INVEST IN SPAIN, was elected to the Vice-Presidency of the WAIPA, the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, at their annual conference held in Buenos Aires in June.

The Spanish agency will hold the post for a two-year period, during which the Presidency of the WAIPA will be held by the Brazilian agency, APEX-Brazil, which has renewed its mandate after two years in the post. INVEST IN SPAIN was elected to the post of this international body from 244 investment agencies comprising the organization from 162 countries.

More than 300 agency executives, civil servants, politicians, economists, academics and experts from 76 countries came together for the annual conference, the objective of which was to share experiences as regards how to meet the challenges of the worldwide economic and financial crisis.

At three working meetings and three full sessions experts analyzed the energizing role of investment in the current international economic situation, which has resulted in a reduction in worldwide investment flows in 2008 and 2009. The importance of investment as an engine for sustainable growth around the world was also debated.

The conference went on to focus on the important role of emerging countries in the crisis recovery process, which is opening up major opportunities to increase incoming foreign direct investment.

The president of WAIPA and APEX-Brazil, Alessandro Teixeira, underscored the importance of the emerging economies during his presentation. “Brazil for example, has learned not to react individually but rather collectively, because it is only possible to increase foreign direct investment flows by working alongside the other countries in the region”, explained Teixeira, who provided the examples of Brazil and China as two countries able to increase incoming investment flows over recent months.

WAIPA is a non-governmental organization working in the field of cooperation and the exchange of best practices between investment agencies the world over. It was set up in 1995 in Geneva, Switzerland, and is currently composed of 244 investment agencies from 162 countries.