Public-private sector partnerships sought for development financing

United Nations, New York, 16 January 2002 - Both domestic and foreign private sector investment should complement official development assistance, ICC Secretary General Maria Livanos Cattaui told the United Nations this week.

"If a country establishes the right conditions to encourage home-grown investment, that will attract foreign direct investment too," Mrs Cattaui said.

As spokesperson for the business alliance participating in the forthcoming Monterrey meeting on Financing for Development, ICC Secretary General Maria Livanos Cattaui said that all types of business investment required host governments to practice sound investment-friendly policies.

Briefing UN delegates on business views, Mrs Cattaui said that ICC supported private-public partnerships linking foreign direct investment to official development assistance in the financing of specific projects, particularly infrastructure projects.

Mrs Cattaui's comments were made at the preparatory meeting for the UN's International Conference on Financing for Development to be held in Monterrey, Mexico, March 18-22.

She noted that the proposals currently scheduled for discussion in Monterrey focused mainly on macro-economic policy, when companies interested in investing in developing countries were equally concerned with micro-economic issues.

"Development cannot be realised without improving the micro-policy preconditions for a business-friendly environment," she said. "For example such issues as mortgage availability, the use of collateral to borrow from banks, the property ownership system, title deeds to assets and the rule of law."

Mrs Cattaui described ICC's collaboration with the UN Conference on Trade and Development in channeling business expertise to some of the world's poorest countries to help them to attract foreign direct investment. "The objective is to help bring together countries that seek new investment and countries that seek new locations."

ICC is coordinating private sector input into the Monterrey meeting in association with the Business Council for the United Nations, Money Matters Institute, Renaissance Strategy, Samuels Associates and the World Economic Forum.

Further information about the UN Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey, Mexico, 18-22 March 2002

• Official Website
• Agenda: International Business Forum (18 March 2002) ( 75 kb)
  
• List of Business Activities during the Conference ( 167kb)