Representatives from SKIPA joined their OECS counterparts from ministries of trade/investment promotion agencies, as well as trade Ministers from Dominican Republic and Guatemala at the OECS Investment facilitation self-assessments: Strategies to enhance the investment climate and attract sustainable FDI in Miami, May 22-23, 2025.
The investment facilitation self-assessments are the first step to help countries assess their needs and priorities in relation to the implementation of the provisions of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA). The assessments allow countries to gather information on current regulations and practices, assess gaps with IFD provisions, identify actions required, categorize investment facilitation measures in terms of implementation phases and assistance required, and determine technical assistance and capacity building support required to implement the Agreement.
Six countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) – Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Saint Kitts and Nevis completed their investment facilitation self-assessments in September 2024.
The objectives of the event are to review and finalize the categorization of the IFD provisions, for notification to the WTO. The sessions will also discuss strategies for implementation and develop recommendations to enhance each country’s capacity in alignment with national priorities, to attract not only more FDI, but also high-quality, sustainable investment.
On July 6, 2023, 112 World Trade Organization (WTO) members concluded text negotiations on the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA). This landmark agreement aims to create a more transparent, efficient, and predictable environment for facilitating foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. Its core purpose is to assist countries, particularly developing and least-developed countries (LDCs), in attracting and retaining more and higher-quality FDI that contributes to their sustainable development objectives.
The IFDA is the culmination of over five-and-a-half years of work, including nearly three years of intensive text-based negotiations launched in September 2020. It strategically focuses on technical measures to streamline investment processes and explicitly excludes more contentious areas such as market access, investment protection, and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which significantly aided the negotiation process.
