Jointly organized by the UNIDO Investment Promotion Programme Office for Southern China and Nanning Municipal Government, sponsored by UNIDO, the Global Investment Promotion Forum 2008 was held from April 23rd to April 25th in Nanning City, capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.
Dedicated to the theme "Urban Agglomerations Economies and Foreign Direct Investment", this important event was one of the first in China to enhance the strong relationship between the two issues of urbanization and investment.
The structure of the forum, divided into 2 distinct parts, helped to provide a lot of diverse testimonies and exchanges, as well as to confront experiences and points of view between Chinese and international participants.
The first day was mostly dedicated to high level speeches from Chinese and international experts on the urban and investment fields.
On the one hand it gave a great chance to international participants, to better understand the great opportunities offered by the "Pan Beibu Gulf" Development Policy supported by the Chinese Central Government and successfully implemented in Guangxi.
On the other hand, international speakers presented a global perspective on international challenges related to urbanization, investment, and shared the policies implemented in their own cities, provinces or countries, so as to give different views to the Chinese participants.
The second day proposed five core seminars on specific topics: "Good urban governance and its impact on investment attraction", "Modern strategic investments in urban agglomerations", "Real estate investment and Central Business District development", "How to build a viable regional financial system particularly in order to support SMEs", "Eco-Industrial Park Project Promotion", as well as a "Global Exhibition" of worldwide urban agglomerations, gathering within the conference hall pictures and introductions of 50 Chinese and international cities.
It enabled participants from both sides, to interact in small groups, compare ideas, exchange best practices and it resulted in many positive fruitful discussions.
But what mostly caught the attention of the participants thanks to their concrete achievements were the 2 other activities proposed:
-The "UN Procurement Seminar", supported by UNHCR and UNICEF, gathered not only the officers of the UN procurement system, but also well-known international organizations such as VDA (Verband der Deustche Automotive), and the Supply Management Institute…
All of them presented in front of a dedicated audience of 130 Chinese decision makers and suppliers, how to create effective procurement cooperation with them. It resulted in the application of more than 20 suppliers to be integrated in those organizations' suppliers' network, and their potential cooperation will be supervised by UNIDO IPPO.
-The "Investment Matchmaking Meeting", regrouped more than 15 international companies and organizations having the intention to invest in Guangxi, or which wanted to have more information on the investment opportunities in the province. Thus, big international enterprises, like GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation Pte Ltd.), Air Products…for which the meetings had been prepared in advance according to their wishes and expectations, got the opportunity to have in depth discussions, every time with at least 4 to 5 local firms or investment projects' owners. Up to now 7 concrete cooperative intentions have been established among the participants, the follow-up of the rest projects is also in process.
Following the first forum organized by UNIDO IPPO in Liuzhou City in 2007, the Forum 2008 took place in the political heart of Guangxi, therefore, expectations were high. The objectives of the forum, were not only to provide a platform for international experts to discuss and exchange with top level Chinese officials from the provincial and national levels, but also to propose to Chinese decision-makers other different development models and solutions, and to Chinese companies a possibility to promote themselves, look for investment or find business partners.
Supported by the World Bank Group, and thanks to the strong efforts of Nanning Municipal Government, UNIDO IPPO for Southern China had been greatly honored to welcome honorable and distinguished guests such as:
- On the China Central Government Level:
The Vice-Minister, Ministry of Construction of China，Mr. Qi Ji； the Deputy Director-General of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, Mr. Huang Shuhe; the Vice Director-General of Western China Development Office of the State Council, Mr. Cao Yushu ; a very famous researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Mr. Li Jingwen.
- On the Guangxi Provincial Level:
The Governor of the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Secretary of the CPC Nanning Committee, Mr. Ma Biao; the Vice-Governor of the People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Mr. Lin Nianxiu ; the Mayor and Vice Secretary of CPC Nanning Committee, Nanning Municipal Government, Mr. Chen Xiangqun.
- On the whole China Level:
Were also present a large number of mayors and high level officials from the following cities: Tianjin, Kunming, Harbin, Yangzhou, Nanchang, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Yantai, Dalian, Guangzhou, Changsha, Guilin, Zhenzhou, Yulin, Beihai, Hangzhou etc.
- On an international Level:
-9 UN and international organizations: UNIDO, UNDP, UNCTAD, UNHCR, UNICEF, World Bank and the European Chamber of Commerce in China and VDA.
-41 representatives from advanced urban agglomerations, including Palo Alto (Silicon Valley, California, USA), Commerce City (USA), Cleveland City (USA), Avondale City (USA), Vienna City (Austria), Madrid City (Spain), Sofia (Bulgaria), Plastiras City (Greece), Irkutsk Region (Russia), Baja California and Isaloa region (Mexico)…
-16 representatives from foreign diplomatic agencies: The Ambassador of Belgium to China, the Ambassador of Bulgaria to China, the Ambassador of Jordan to China, the Ambassador of Iraq to China, the Swiss Consul General in Guangzhou, officials from the British and US Consulate General in Guangzhou and from the Canadian Consulate in Shanghai, as well as 2 high-level representatives from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnamese Vice-Minister of Investment and Planning…
-10 representatives from IPAs' around the world, for instance, International Enterprise Singapore, Egypt-China Business Council, Enterprise Estonia,
-29 multi-national corporations, including Fortune 500 companies like IBM, Bosch, Accenture and Air Product, Medtronic, Siemens…
With a total number of 350 Chinese participants and 102 international participants representing more than 25 nationalities, the undeniable success of the "Global Investment Promotion Forum 2008" has shown the great interest of the Chinese government in the chosen topics, which has been underlined by the strong participation of high level governmental officials.
The mobilization of all Guangxi cities, and local government agencies, as well as the strong efforts consented to welcome all the international guests in a high professional manner have shown, not only that 2 years of cooperation between UNIDO and Guangxi province have given birth to a dynamic coexistence and mutual understanding, but it also opens new bright perspectives for future events, in Nanning or in the cities in the heart of the “Beibu Gulf” such as Qinzhou or Fangchenggang.
