USAID Announce Partnership

USAID Announce Partnership to Disseminate Investment Opportunities from Developing Countries

WASHINGTON, DC, July 8, 2002—-The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), of the World Bank Group, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) today announced a partnership to increase investment in developing countries. The agreement calls for USAID to provide information to investors on business opportunities in emerging markets through MIGA's FDI Xchange (www.fdixchange.com).

The arrangement brings to 39 the number of agencies providing live content to the FDI Xchange, a customized information service that provides investors with email updates on direct investment opportunities and business operating conditions in emerging markets worldwide. Updates are matched to investor interests by sector, type, size, and location of investment. Some 1,500 investors have signed up for the free service so far.

The partnership taps into the resources of USAID's Global Trade & Technology Network (GTN), a program that promotes economic growth in developing countries by helping small and medium-size enterprises build trade linkages, identify investment opportunities, and access new technologies. The network links firms together through a web-based trading platform that enhances their potential to engage in business transactions with firms in any market worldwide. The program is available to companies in all industry sectors and is operational in 37 developing countries and the United States.

"USAID's GTN program and MIGA's FDI Xchange share the common goals of promoting economic development through business enterprise. We are pleased that the partnership with MIGA will enable our investment opportunities to be more widely distributed. We look forward to a very productive working relationship," says Joe Duncan, acting director, USAID Office of Business Development.

MIGA offers the FDI Xchange as part of its mandate to promote economic growth by helping developing countries attract and retain private investment. "GTN will help us provide trade and investment information critical to small and medium-size enterprises, which will complement our existing service offerings," said John Wille, who manages FDI Xchange and MIGA's other online investment information services.

For information

On MIGA, contact:
Stephan Dreyhaupt, sdreyhaupt@worldbank.org
t. 202.458.2943
Angela Gentile, agentile@worldbank.org,
t. 202.473.3509