Innovations in Foreign Direct Investment Attraction

Implications for Selection of Case Study Areas and IPAs

Table 3 below identifies six key areas of investment promotion based on the survey 

evidence presented in section 4.1.1, the good practices in section 3, and the relevance 

to IPAs from the LAC region. Identified best practice and innovative IPAs are also 

shown.

29%

26%

20%

9%

6%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Site Consultants &

Brokers

Business

Development

Team

State EDO

Direct Company

Inquiry

Other

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13

TABLE 3.

 Key Areas of Investment Promotion and Selected IPAs for Case Studies 

Area of investment 

promotion

Importance

Relevance to IPAs from LAC

Best practice case study IPA

1. Website

One of the most effective tech-

niques to market a location 

according to both investors and 

IPAs

Critical for all IPAs to 

be up-to-date with latest 

innovations – few IPA 

websites from LAC are 

international best practice

Netherlands Foreign In-

vestment Agency website 

identified as highly inno-

vative and among the best 

in the world

2. Multipliers

Site selectors, the media, and 

other location multipliers have a 

major influence on FDI decision 

making and location selection and 

are a key source of inward invest-

ment project leads

While location multipliers 

are increasingly import-

ant in FDI and corporate 

location, very few IPAs 

from LAC have developed 

a multiplier strategy

UK Trade and Investment 

identified as developing a 

comprehensive multiplier 

program

3. Sub-national 

investment pro-

motion 

Surveys of MNEs have shown 

that investment facilitation ser-

vices at the local level are of high 

importance to investors. To attract 

FDI, overseas representatives, 

outsourcing lead generation and 

meeting face-to-face foreign 

investors are ranked amongst the 

most effective methods to attract 

FDI

Subnational IPAs in LAC 

typically are not well re-

sourced and need support 

and capacity building for 

investment facilitation and 

investment promotion

Invest in Canada iden-

tified as developing an 

innovative program to 

support sub-national IPAs 

to attract FDI, which has 

been running successfully 

for several years 

4. Aftercare 

(supply chain 

development)

Aftercare is stated by IPAs as the 

most effective method to attract 

FDI and can play a key role in 

embedding investors and maxi-

mizing local benefits

Most IPAs in LAC have a 

small aftercare team but 

do not provide compre-

hensive post-investment 

services 

North East England and 

Czech Invest identified 

as pioneers in developing 

supply-chain aftercare 

programs and Louisiana 

Economic Development 

identified as best practice 

in skills & training after-

care 

5. Aftercare

(skills & training 

development)

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14

6. FDI Tracking 

& Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation is a 

key area of investment promotion 

especially important given that 

official data on greenfield FDI is 

not collected in most countries. 

Tracking performance also feeds 

through into media/publicity 

which is one of key methods to 

market a location 

While some IPAs in LAC 

do have strong monitor-

ing and evaluation there 

is very limited data pub-

lished on the performance 

of the IPA and country in 

attracting FDI 

Dubai FDI identified as 

the pioneer in developing 

robust FDI monitoring 

and using it to market 

Dubai more effectively 

to investors as well as to 

support investment facili-

tation and aftercare