DESIGNING EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR INVESTMENT PROMOTION AND REFORM COMMUNICATION. - Working Group 2 Meeting June 2007.

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1 Agenda DESIGNING EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES FOR INVESTMENT PROMOTION AND REFORM COMMUNICATION - Working Group 2 Meeting June Mövenpick Hôtel Manama, Bahrain Organised by The MENA-OECD Investment Programme Hosted by MENA Investment Centre Manama, Bahrain Under the patronage of Shaikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al-Khalifa Chief Executive of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain

2 Objective Working Group 2 (WG2) of the MENA-OECD Investment Programme contributes to building a positive image of the MENA region, through multi-stakeholder dialogue and sharing of good practices between the MENA and OECD countries governments, investment promotion agencies, private sector, civil society and other partners. WG2 seeks to identify best practice in investment promotion capacity using MENA and OECD countries know how to help identify solutions and provide practical policy advice. The purpose of this meeting of the Working Group is to discuss recommendations regarding the agreed output areas of WG2 that will be presented to the second MENA Investment Ministerial Meeting, November Key functions and progress areas for Investment promotion agencies and business associations in MENA countries will be discussed, such as: how to organize an effective policy advocacy function within the organization, the creation of efficient One-Stop-Shops, benchmarking tools for investment climate performance and the overall communication of investment climate reforms to affected constituencies (second day). The Working Group will also be invited to discuss the preparation of the Business Day that will precede the Ministerial meeting. Participants As for previous meetings of the WG2, MENA countries are invited to send investment promotion experts from their IPAs and Business Associations/Chambers of Commerce. Investment policy and promotion experts from OECD countries will participate in the meeting. The Union Méditerranéenne des Confédérations d Entreprises (UMCE), the Union of Arab Banks, the Arab Council for Economic Unity, the Council for Arab Business Women, and other partner organisations are invited to attend the meeting. Representatives of the World Bank Group, Islamic Development Bank, UNIDO, WAIPA, European Commission/ANIMA, UNCTAD, CIPE are also invited. Documentation The relevant meeting documents together with a more detailed agenda will be distributed to participants in advance of the meeting. For information about the Programme please visit our website: The meeting will be followed by a roundtable on Strategies for Reform Communication of Investment Climate Reforms, with the objective of drawing lessons from the best reformers on how to best package and communicate reforms to achieve growth and employment. The roundtable will be held on the morning of 26 June; participants of WG2 are invited to attend.

3 MEETING ITINERARY Monday, 25 June :30 9:00 Opening Session Introductory Remarks Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al-Khalifa, Chief Executive, Economic Development Board, Bahrain Co-moderators Mr. Paul Obrist, Working Group 2 Co-Chair, Advisor, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Switzerland Dr. Rainer Geiger, Head of the MENA-OECD Investment Programme 9:00 10:15 Session 1: Investment Promotion Agencies in MENA Strategies to improve the investment climate in the region This session will give the opportunity to Investment Promotion Agencies and business representatives to present strategies for the improvement of investment climate and recent development in MENA, on the regional as well as on the national ground. H.E.Sheikha Hissa Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, President of the Council Of Arab Businesswomen Mr. Nasir Al Mansour, Studies Specialist, Investment Performance Assessment, Saudi Arabia Mrs. Souraya Ouali, Investment Department, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Morocco Mr. Salah Al Attar, President, General Investment Authority, Yemen Ms. Vivian Jamal, Director Business Development, Bahrain Economic Development Board 10:15 11:30 Session 2: Policy Advocacy Function of the Investment Promotion Agencies, Business Associations and Chambers of Commerce in MENA In interfacing between the private and the public sector IPAs are in a strategic position to advocate policy change and reform to improve the investment climate and thereby promote new business and investment. Other actors like Business Associations and Chambers can assume a similar function. This session will discuss the key organizational measures for setting up a successful policy advocacy function within these institutions based on results of a workshop conducted last year and a survey tool developed for that purpose. Mr. Declan Murphy, Director, Strategy Partners, Ireland and Advisor to the OECD Mr. Saqer Shaheen, Board Member, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mrs. Neveen El Shafei, Vice Chairman, Policy Advocacy Department, GAFI

4 Dr. Nabil Shalaby, Adviser, Entrepreneurship & SMEs Development, Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Saudi Arabia Mr. Mohamed Youssef, Secretary General, Egyptian Businessmen s Association 11:30 12:15 Coffee Break Prayer 12:15 12:45 Session 3: IPA and Investment policy performance benchmarking Effective policy advocacy for investment climate reforms requires knowledge about what a best practice investment climate encompasses. Instruments such as the Policy Investment Framework, the Investment Reform Index, (by OECD) and the Doing Business (World Bank) have been used successfully in emerging market regions for benchmarking and evaluating progress in investment policy reforms. This session will discuss how these tools can be used by countries in the MENA region. Dr. Rainer Geiger, Head of the MENA-OECD Investment Programme Mr. John Speakman, Lead PSD Specialist, World Bank 12:45 14:00 Session 4: Implementing administrative simplification: the case of One-Stop- Shops Time consuming and burdensome procedures for establishing a business remain one of the most often cited obstacles in business surveys on the investment climate in OECD and non-oecd countries alike. One approach has been the establishment of one-stop-shops (OSS) as part of the services provided for example - by Investment Promotion Agencies and the simplification of the administrative procedures behind. This session intends to share experiences among MENA countries on creation of OSS and their efficient functioning. Dr. Alexander Böhmer, Executive Manager, MENA-OECD Investment Programme Mr. Ali Makki, Director, Company affairs & Bahrain Investor Centre, Ministry of Commerce, Bahrain 14:00 15:30 Lunch break Mr. Hani Nsour, One Stop Shop Director, Jordanian Investment Board, Jordan

5 15:30 16:30 Session 5: Preparation of Ministerial Business Forum: 27 November The main purpose of this session will be to prepare the Business Forum preceding the Ministerial meeting taking place on 27 November in Cairo. The WG2 will also be asked to provide input to a Business Statement which will be presented to Ministers. The key elements of the Business Forum to be discussed: - Women Business Leaders Forum - Matchmaking preparation - MENA 500 publication - Business Statement Open discussion 16:30 16:45 Coffee break Chairperson: H.E.Sheikha Hissa Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, President of the Council Of Arab Businesswomen Dr. El Sayed Torky, Co-Chair Representative of the MENA-OECD Investment Programme Mrs. Eva Seddik, Under Secretary of State for Promotion, GAFI Dr. Hashim Hussein, Head of Investment & Technology Promotion Office, Bahrain, UNIDO Dr. Amany Asfour, Chair Egyptian Business Women Association Mr. Mohamed Youssef, Secretary General, Egyptian Businessmen s Association 16:45-17:30 Session 6: Next steps and activities for Working Group 2 The session will focus on assessing the outputs of WG2. Future projects for the WG2 in the second phase of the Programme will be presented, in particular on: a) FDI Integration Building Linkages with local economies; b) Policy advocacy mentoring programs; c) FDI Statistics project. Open discussion Moderator: Dr. Alexander Böhmer, Executive Manager, MENA-OECD Investment Programme 17:30 18:00 Concluding remarks Dr. Zakaria Ahmed Hejres, Deputy Chief Executive, Economic Development Board, Bahrain Mr. Paul Obrist, Working Group 2 Co-Chair, Advisor, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Switzerland Dr. Rainer Geiger, Head of the MENA-OECD Investment Programme 19:30 Reception for the Opening of the MENA Investment Centre The Programme work of Bahrain MENA Investment center will be presented and its activities launched

6 MEETING ITINERARY Tuesday, 26 June 2007 Roundtable of Working Group 2 STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNICATION OF INVESTMENT CLIMATE REFORMS A key measure of success for governments is their ability to present and communicate reforms to broader audiences in order to achieve their full benefits and minimise resistance of stakeholder groups. The key objective of this roundtable will be to discuss experiences of policy makers in packaging and communicate economic and investment climate reforms effectively. In doing so, the meeting will draw the lessons from the reformers on how to best package and communicate economic policy reforms, and particularly investment policy reforms to achieve growth and full employment. The sessions will include discussion on the experience with structuring economic and investment climate reforms, a panel with country case study presentations, followed by a session on packaging reforms with participation of public relations companies. The long term objective of the project will be to develop a toolkit and a synthesis of lessons learned by governments in communicating economic and investment climate reforms more specifically. 09:00-09:30 Opening Session H.E.Sheikha Hissa Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, President of the Council Of Arab Businesswomen Dr. Khalid Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer, Real Estate Finance Company, Bahrain Dr. Alexander Böhmer, Executive Manager, MENA-OECD Investment Programme 9:30 11:30 Session 1: Experience with structuring economic and investment policy reforms in the MENA region This session will review the experience with investment climate reforms in Middle East and North Africa and OECD countries. The objective will be to highlight the sequencing of reforms, experience with interaction with opposition groups; effective strategies for overcoming resistance to reforms; and timing of reforms. Country case studies will follow by government officials who will present their efforts in investment related reforms. This will be an interactive session where public relations agencies and other communications specialists present will provide feedback on the reforms already implemented. The focus of discussion will be on privatization and investment liberalisation. Moderator: Mr. Declan Murphy, Director, Strategy Partners, Ireland and Advisor to the OECD PRESENTATION OF COUNTRY CASE STUDIES Mr. Abdulillah Al-Qassimi, Deputy Chief Executive, Labour Fund, Bahrain Mr. Aref Al Farra, Advisor to the Ministry of Economy, United Arab Emirates Mr. Nazih Barqawi, Secretary General, Executive Privatisation Commission, Jordan

7 Mrs. Souraya Ouali, Investment Department, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Morocco 11:30 12:00 Coffee Break Prayer 12:00 13:30 Session 2: Packaging of reforms Why is packaging and effective communication of reforms so important? This session will provide an overview of some of examples of packaging and communication of reforms with main lessons learned. The session will address the following questions: what are the different ways to package reforms both internally (to other ministries and agencies) and externally? How should private sector support be mobilized? Moderator: Dr. El Sayed Torky, Co-Chair Representative of the MENA-OECD Investment Programme Presentations and commentary by communication agencies - Successful strategies for reaching out to key stakeholder groups Mr. Will Hill, Associate Director, Fleishman Hillard Mr. Tim Walmsley, Regional Director, Impact Porter Novelli Presentations and commentary by MENA business associations - Impact of investment climate reforms on the private sector Dr. Amany Asfour, Chair Egyptian Business Women Association Mr. Mohamed Youssef, Secretary General, Egyptian Businessmen s Association Mr. Hassan Radhi, Hassan Rahdi & Associates, Law firm, Bahrain Followed by open discussion and commentary 13:30 14:00 Concluding remarks and way forward 14:00 15:00 Lunch Mr. Alexander Böhmer, MENA Investment Programme Executive manager, OECD

8 CONTACTS Mr. Alexander Böhmer Executive Programme Manager MENA-OECD Investment Programme Telephone: Ms. Arouna Roshanian Policy Analyst MENA-OECD Investment Programme arouna.roshanian@oecd.org Telephone: Fax: Mr. Patrice Dubus MENA-OECD Investment Programme patrice.dubus@oecd.org Telephone: Fax: