OECD Investment Committee presented new Policy Framework for Investment in Paris and highlighted work with CIEChile.

At its recent meeting in Paris, the OECD Investment Committee drew attention to the Chilean government’s efforts to “strengthen its investment promotion agency to show its support for investors.” In its new publication, From Advice to Action, the OECD highlighted particularly the work it had carried out together with the Foreign Investment Committee (CIEChile) which served as the basis for the country’s new FDI Framework Law. Promulgated in June, it created the new Foreign Investment Promotion Agency which will start operations in January.

During the international meeting at the OECD’s headquarters, it presented the updated Policy Framework for Investment, containing the organization’s principal recommendations for foreign investment attraction policies. The report notes that, in the case of the OECD’s work with Chile, “[the] chapter on investment promotion and facilitation served as basis for this advice and for drafting the strategy report” along with “consulting with Chilean actors in investment promotion-related activities.”

Vicente Mira, CIEChile’s executive vice-president, pointed out that “the key issues relating to FDI today were debated in Paris: the legal framework, trends and international experience. Thanks to the work to update our institutional framework, Chile is fully part of this discussion and our case generates a great deal of interest in other countries.”

“The new Foreign Investment Promotion Agency is in line with OECD recommendations. What the OECD is saying today is that foreign investment attraction should no longer focus only on quantity but also on quality, and the role of governments is to facilitate the entry of this capital to their country and to encourage reinvestment and the expansion of companies that already have operations there. In this sense, investment promotion agencies play a key role as seen in the experience of countries like Singapore, Ireland, France or Canada,” noted Mira in Paris. “We are talking about investments that create better jobs, enter global value chains, create value added in exports and foster innovation, research and new technologies,” he added.

Mira did not rule out further advice from the OECD on foreign investment and indicated that part of the work of the new agency will be “to implement systems through which to measure the impact of our work in attracting more and better investment to the country.”