'Invest India' Bags UNCTAD's Investment Promotion Award 2020 - Pragnya IAS Academy- News Analysis.

'Invest India' Bags UNCTAD's Investment Promotion Award 2020.

'Invest India' bags UNCTAD's Investment Promotion Award 2020

The UNCTAD has declared 'Invest India' as winner of the 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award, according to a release by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

"Invest India" is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India and act as the first point of reference for investors in India. It is a non-profit venture set up in 2009 under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

The award ceremony took place on Monday at UNCTAD Headquarters in Geneva. The award recognises and celebrates the outstanding achievements of the World's best-practice investment promotion agencies.

The evaluation was based on UNCTAD's assessment of work undertaken by 180 national Investment Promotion Agencies across the world.

The Union Commerce Ministry said that the COVID-19 pandemic had generated important challenges for investment promotion agencies (IPAs), forcing them to shift focus from routine investment promotion and facilitation towards crisis management, notification of government emergency and economic relief measures, provision of crisis support services, and contribution to national COVID-19 business response efforts.

"All this was being done while agencies had closed offices, moved functions online and asked staff to work from home. In March 2020, UNCTAD constituted a team to monitor IPAs response to the pandemic," read the release.

UNCTAD reported best practices from investment promotion agencies in the IPA Observer publications in April 2020 and July 2020. IPAs response to the pandemic became the basis for the evaluation of the 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award.

UNCTAD highlighted good practices followed by 'Invest India' such as the Business Immunity Platform, Exclusive Investment Forum webinar series, its social media engagement and focus COVID response teams (such as business reconstruction, stakeholder outreach and supplier outreach) created as a response to the pandemic in its publications.

Invest India has also shared long-term strategies and practices being followed for investment promotion, facilitation and retention at UNCTAD's high-level brainstorming sessions.

Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO, Invest India said that the award is testament to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India a preferred investment destination with a focus on both ease of living and ease of doing business.

"It bears testimony to his focus on bringing excellence within the Government. This award also recognises the Indian Government's effective management of the COVID pandemic," he said. (ANI)

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'Invest India' Bags UNCTAD's Investment Promotion Award 2020.

Coronavirus may eat into global FDI flow, predicts UNCTAD - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Coronavirus may eat into global FDI flow, predicts UNCTAD.

FDI flows across the world will witness a sharp decline of 5-15 per cent.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows across the world will witness a sharp decline of five to 15 per cent because of the global novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, according to a report. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) — in its assessment published on March 4, 2020 — said the decline would be restricted to five per cent if the outbreak was controlled.

However, the fallout would be much more if the outbreak was not reigned in, according to the report.
The severity of the outbreak in a country would determine the impact on its FDI flows, the report said. FDI inflows would be impacted because of supply chain disruptions.
More than 109 nations were affected by the outbreak as of March 9, 2020, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. South Korea, Italy and Iran were the worst hit after China.
The number of infected went up to 40 in India, after one more case was reported in Kerala on March 9.
The impact on business because of the COVID-19 outbreak would also be felt by more than two-thirds of the top 100 multinational enterprises (MNEs), who issued statements to this effect, according to the report.
The average earning revisions for MNEs would be minus 16 per cent in the developed world and minus six per cent in the developing world, according to the report.
Asia would bear the brunt of this because global value chains centred around China, South Korea and Japan would cause the biggest disruptions, the report said.
Energy, technology, telecommunication services sectors will also be affected by the outbreak, according to the report.
The impact on ongoing greenfield projects (those starting from scratch) would be limited, according to the report. However, announcements of new projects would be delayed.
Mergers and acquisitions will also witness slowdowns, according to the report.
“Market-seeking investment and FDI projects in extractive industries could be delayed worldwide as a result of negative demand shocks,” the report said, giving the example of carmaker Toyota, which reported a 70 per cent drop in sales in China.
The impact was already visible in major markets beyond China, especially in industries such as tourism and retail, the report said.
Major disruptions were earlier reported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other consultancy groups.
China’s economic growth would be affected in the first three months of 2020 even if disruptions from the outbreak end, Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of IMF, wrote in her blog on February 2020.
Global gross domestic product growth would decline by 2.3 per cent from 2.5 per cent, according to an estimate by consultancy group Oxford Economics in February 2020.


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Coronavirus may eat into global FDI flow, predicts UNCTAD.