Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA) participated in the second meeting of the Arab Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) convened in Cairo at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Arab League during the period December 2-3, 2015. Ms. Fatima Al Sayegh, Head of Cases & Investigation Section, represented KDIPA. The meeting was attended by representatives from 17 Arab countries and regional specialized organizations. The Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs of the Arab League, Dr. Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Al-Tuwaijri, opened the meeting with a speech welcoming the Arab IPAs that attended. He emphasized the important of encouraging inter-Arab investments, highlighting the main developments that emerged in the Investment Climate in the Arab Countries Report, prepared the Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman), in collaboration with assigned focal points at the member states. He indicated that this report detected areas of reform in the Arab countries respective investment climate. The discussion then focused on the amended unified Agreement for Investment of Arab Capital in the Arab States, signed by five Arab country namely: Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Sudan, urging the rest of the Arab countries to complete their legal procedures to commit to this agreement. The participants also tackled the issuance of a unified visa for Arab investors and businesspersons. The meeting concluded by adopting several recommendations of which the need to develop join promotional activities to showcase the investment opportunities available and the need to build the capabilities of Arab IPAs personnel. A request was put forward to the General Secretariat of the Arab League to prepare an explanatory memorandum for the amended unified agreement for the review and approval by member states. It also requested to consider potential cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) and any other specialized investment organizations.
