Overview
The biennial World Investment Forum[1] (WIF) is organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to promote investment for sustainable development and facilitate policy dialogue among a diverse community of investment stakeholders. The forum brings together policymakers, including Heads of State and Government, Ministers and other government officials responsible for investment; representatives from the private sector, including CEOs; international organisations working in the area of sustainable development and poverty reduction; thought leaders from academia and research institutions; and other members of the international investment community, including treaty negotiators, investment promotion and location experts, heads of sovereign wealth funds, heads of stock exchanges, and NGOs.
The inaugural World Investment Forum[3] was held in Accra, Ghana, on the occasion of the twelfth UNCTAD Ministerial Conference[3] in April 2008. It focused on the future of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows: where FDI will come from and which sectors and regions will be the main targets of these flows, as well as the features of corporate strategies that will drive cross-border investment.