Buenos Aires – Today (29th) Brazil has been unanimously re-elected to preside over the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (Waipa) for two more years. The election took place at a meeting of representatives of 65 member countries of the association, in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires.
The Waipa is a non-government organization established in 1995 to act as a forum that seeks to cooperate and to exchange the practices used by countries for developing their investment. Since 2008, it is presided over by Alessandro Teixeira, who also heads the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex), an organization linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
According to Teixeira, Brazil’s re-election to preside the Waipa “shows that the country amy contribute to improve the investment level worldwide.” In 2008, Brazil was one of the countries that attracted the most foreign direct investment (FDI). In 2010, according to the chairman of the Apex, investment should total US$ 40 billion.
In Brazil’s first two years in the Waipa presidency, 50 new investment agencies affiliated themselves and 13 meetings were held in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, the Waipa brings together 244 investment promotion agencies from 162 different countries.
The Waipa meeting in Buenos Aires will continue until tomorrow (30th). The main topic of discussion is the search for the leading investments that may lead to sustained economic development in the post-crisis world. The meeting brings together government officials, private sector representatives, scholars and business leaders.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
