JOB/GC/163  
 
30 November 2017  
(17-6565) Page: 1/2 
General Council   
 
INFORMAL OPEN -ENDED MEETING AT THE  LEVEL OF HEADS OF DE LEGATION  
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. HECTOR MARCELO CIMA , COORDINATOR OF THE  INFORMAL 
DIALOGUE ON INVESTME NT FACILITATION FOR DEVELOPMENT  
28 NOVEMBER 2017  
As a matter of transparency and inclusiveness, the  purpose of this report on investment facilitation 
– following the two oral reports I have made at the HODs mee tings on 25 July and 
24 October  2017 – is to inform Members in a transparent manner about the discussions in the 
Informal Dialogue on Investment Facilitation for Development and to highlight some of the key 
themes that have emerged from its deliberations . This report, made under my own responsibility 
as the Coordinator, is based on views of Members expressed in meetings of the Informal Dialogue . 
It will be circulated to all Members after this meeting .  
1  SUBJECTS ADDRESSED I N THE INFORMAL DIALO GUE 
1.1.  Since its launch in April 2017, the Informal Dialogue has held six meetings : respectively 
on 24 May, 28 June, 18 July, 25 September, 23  October and 10 Novem ber 2017 .  
1.2.  Discussions have focused on four key investment facilitation themes as outlined in the 
"Proposed Agenda for Future Work"1 namely:  
a. Improving regulatory transparency and predictability;  
b. Streamlining and speeding up administrative procedures;  
c. Enhan cing international cooperation and addressing the needs of developing Members; 
as well as  
d. Other investment facilitation -related issues.  
1.3.  It was agreed at the outset that the Informal Dialogue would not address market access, 
investment protection and invest or-state dispute settlement (ISDS).  
1.4.  The Informal Dialogue also drew on the expertise of leading international organisations – 
such as UNCTAD and the World Bank.  
1.5.  Recently, a number of Members participated in the successful High -Level Forum on 
"Facilitating  Trade and Investment for Development" held in Abuja, Nigeria, on 2 -3 November 
2017.  
2  THEMES EMERGING FROM  THE INFORMAL DIALOGU E 
2.1.  Several key themes have emerged from the Informal Dialogue:  
2.2.  Firstly , a number of Members have underlined the growing linkages between trade and 
investment, and the resulting need for greater trade -investment policy coherence.  
                                                
1 WTO Informal Dialogue on Investment Facilitation for Development, "Investment Facilitation – 
Proposed Agenda for Future Work (Rev.3)", dated 16 October 2017.  JOB/GC/163 
 
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  2.3.  Secondly , a number of participating Members highlighted the importance of investment 
facilitatio n in creating a more investment -friendly business climate – and shared their experiences 
and best practices in this field.  
2.4.  Thirdly , a number of participating Members noted that some Members trying to implement 
investment facilitation reforms faced a lack of resources to train local officials and to improve their 
access to information. In this regard , they stressed the need for technical assistance and capacity 
building  to support implementation efforts by developing and especially least -developed Memb ers.  
2.5.  Finally , a number of participating Members also noted efforts currently underway regionally 
to facilitate investment, and underlined the value of advancing multilateral approaches at the 
global level.  
3  POSSIBLE NEXT STEPS  
3.1.  As a result of the exploratory work conducted in the Informal Dialogue, a number of Members 
are proposing to " begin structured discussions with the aim of developing a multilateral  framework 
on investment facilitation ". In that sense, the document JOB/GC/159 was circulat ed yesterday.  
 
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