Investment Facilitation for Sustainable Development, Indonesia and Malaysia Country Studies
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME WEBINAR
About the Webinar
In a world of declining global direct investments, especially in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on corporate earnings, investment promotion agencies (IPAs) need to think beyond promotion to attract foreign direct investments. Investment facilitation thus plays an increasingly important complementary role to investment promotion. Enhancing existing relationships with the MNCs in a country can also improve investment retention and promote re-investments from the existing investors in a country.
This webinar aims to discuss the importance and development of investment facilitation at the multilateral and country level. Dr Axel Berger of the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) will present existing efforts to measure investment facilitation and discuss the impact on FDI and sustainable development. Ms Erica Pramesty of Presisi Indonesia and Dr Tham Siew Yean of ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute will examine Indonesia’s and Malaysia’s investment facilitation measures and the recent innovative measures taken in these two countries in the light of the COVID pandemic.
About the Speakers
Axel Berger is a Senior Researcher at the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE). He works on the design, effects and diffusion patterns of international trade and investment agreements with a focus on emerging markets and developing countries. Other areas of current research include the effects of an international investment facilitation framework, the impact of free trade agreements on upgrading within global value chains and the role of the G20 in global governance. Dr Berger teaches international political economy at the University of Bonn and regularly advises developing countries, development agencies and international organisations on trade and investment matters.
Erica Pramesty Utami is a Research Associate at Presisi Indonesia. Her research interests cover investment, SMEs, finance, and management. She has served as a consultant to Indonesia’s Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) on a strategic review on infrastructure-based investment and investment strategy during the pandemic. Before joining Presisi, she worked for Principia Management Group, operational arm of Quvat, focusing on South-East Asia private equity fund, and overseeing the firm’s investee companies in the consumer and property sectors as well as monitoring closely Indonesia’s investment policies. Ms Erica Pramesty Utami holds a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD Business School, France.
Tham Siew Yean is Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute and Professor Emeritus, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She was formerly Director and Professor of International Trade at Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her research interests cover trade in goods and services as well as foreign direct investment (FDI). She has published extensively on trade-related issues in books and journals such as Journal of Contemporary Asia, Emerging Markets, Finance and Trade, Asian Economic Papers and Prague Economic Papers, besides co-editing several books published by international publishing houses. She has a PhD in Economics from University of Rochester, USA.
Registration
This webinar will be delivered online entirely. You can join the webinar at the specified date and time using devices (computer, phone, or tablet) with internet connection.
Please register here to receive your unique link for joining the webinar.
Limited spaces only, register early to avoid disappointment. To join the webinar,
1. Install the Zoom client onto your computer or download the app on your mobile device.
2. Click on the unique link in your email.
If you have questions for the speakers, please key in your questions via the Q&A, stating your name and affiliation. The moderator will field them to the speakers during the Q&A session.