Less than a decade ago they languished under communist regimes; now, the newly-independent countries of the Balkans and Central Asia strive to attract foreign capital to fuel their development.
 At the forefront of assisting them is an initiative of the Investment Marketing Services Department (IMS) of the World Bank Group's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency MIGA). With a long record of strengthening the investment promotion capabilities of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) around the world, particularly in Africa, IMS is now helping the nascent agencies of the resource-rich but capital-poor countries of the former communist Eurasia region. "It was our goal to carry our success in Africa into Eastern Europe and Central Asia," said IMS Training and Workshop Program Coordinator, Beat Heggli. "Our activities are designed to enhance the effectiveness of member countries' investment promotion activities as well as their efforts to attract foreign capital to specific sectors such as mining and tourism."
 IMS's capacity-building activities take two forms, explained Mr. Heggli. The first is a country-specific training program to strengthen the existing practical skills of IPA staff and involves role plays, simulations and case studies. "It's related to the day-to-day life of an investment promoter," said Mr. Heggli. "Participants learn how to assist potential investors in getting an investment project on the ground. Topics include how to provide relevant information to potential investors and prepare effective site visits." IMS has organized country-specific training programs for several Eurasian countries including Croatia, Georgia and Mongolia.
 Complementing such programs are IMS's regional capacity-building activities, essentially workshops and seminars which promote regional exchange. "Our target audience here are senior executives from IPAs from a particular region," said Mr. Heggli. "These activities focus less on hands-on skills and more on managerial and organizational issues centered around investment promotion. We also discuss how to use modern information technology for investment promotion and demonstrate MIGA's Internet-based information dissemination facility, the IPAnet (Investment Promotion Agency Network)."
 Some 20 high-level representatives from Eurasian IPAs - including agencies from Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakstan, Ukraine -attended such a regional workshop organized recently by IMS and the OECD Center for Private Sector Development. Participants eagerly shared their experiences in attracting foreign investment. "It's important that regional agencies build an informal network to benefit from their respective experiences," explained Mr. Heggli.
 Besides such "generic" capacity-building activities which focus on general investment promotion skills, IMS also organizes sector-specific training programs and seminars. These activities are typically organized before MIGA's sectoral investment promotion conferences with the goal of preparing officials for successful participation in such events.
 Mr. Heggli stresses IMS avoids doing the job of investment promotion for its clients and tries instead to equip agencies with the necessary marketing and management skills and tools necessary for attracting and retaining foreign capital. Also, IMS is currently concentrating its resources. "Rather than serving a large number of countries with 'one-shot' activities, we'll offer continuous long-term support. We may not be able to serve as many countries as before but we'll do so at a greater depth," Mr. Heggli said.

by Charles Duerden

กก