00:01The World Investment Forum is the leading UN Conference on Investment in the context, of course, of development.
00:08Where is the money needed? Where is the money coming from?
00:11And how can we engineer it so that it really has the broadest impact?
00:19What makes a business decide to invest in one country rather than another?
00:24Here at UNCTAD's World Investment Forum in Doha, we're speaking to investors and business leaders about where they see opportunities,
00:32what holds them back, what it takes to get projects off the ground.
00:39UN Trade and Development says more than 80% of foreign direct investment last year went to just 20 economies.
00:47Why does the investment go there? Because these countries have to offer a strong infrastructure, strong skills and institutions, which
00:56are the framework for any return of investment really to last.
00:59Investments are not a short-term endeavor. So you need to know which rules are there, who is your partner.
01:05It even goes beyond liking or not liking the rules of the game.
01:09As long as you know that there are rules and what rules there are, you can build around them or
01:13on top of them.
01:13But you need definitely that stability. That's the key to investment.
01:18Infrastructure and access to waste oils led EcoCyrus to invest in Malaysia.
01:24The Hong Kong-based company turns those oils into aviation fuel.
01:30Malaysia do provide very good basic infrastructures.
01:34So seafood infrastructures with a port.
01:36We need a refinery base of infrastructures.
01:39They are very comprehensive, so they provide infrastructures there.
01:45Second, they provide availability for the feedstocks.
01:49So we use waste, for instance, UCO, use the kitchen oil, and pump-related waste oil, so they provide an
01:57abundance of feedstocks.
02:00So both of them provide a very good feedstock infrastructure there.
02:03In Qatar, Al-Mahar Holding is investing in local production through its subsidiary Petrotech, which makes electrical equipment.
02:12It's been significant because this has been a collaboration with also local agencies.
02:17We are building local in-country value.
02:20We're building capability here in Qatar.
02:23And this is in line with the Qatar national vision.
02:26This has given us the exposure not only to produce in Qatar, but also to expand our regional capabilities here
02:32in the region.
02:32But companies also face risks that extend beyond Qatar.
02:37Today, we are facing unprecedented geopolitical problems.
02:41And all of the countries, particularly GCC, have been impacted.
02:45We are facing enormous inflationary pressure, exchange rate pressure, and pressure of the Brent-Prudol pricing,
02:52as well as a huge impact on our logistics and supply chains.
02:57Building supply chains locally, I believe, will have a significant positive impact on the local economy.
03:05Governments also have a role in making it easier for businesses to invest.
03:10I know that governments in particular are expecting a lot from the rest of the world.
03:15But a great deal of work at home is required.
03:18Barriers to entry, barriers to exit, issues related to predictability of their policy frameworks and their regulatory frameworks.
03:25Matters related to rule of law and governance, preparation of pipeline of bankable and investable projects,
03:32especially in the infrastructure that requires a great deal of attention when it comes to project preparation.
03:37Smaller countries, he says, can offer investors a bigger market by working together.
03:42And the other thing, scale does matter.
03:44So as if the country in question is a small one, it needs really to go for a regional kind
03:51of a scope.
03:51And we have been seeing a lot of discussion today from the Pacific to the Caribbean, to the African countries,
03:57to the ASEAN,
03:58about the role of the regionalization.
04:01The Qatar Fund for Development uses guarantees to help make projects less risky for private investors.
04:08We actually deploy guarantees depending on the context, but we deploy them with a certain cap.
04:16So it has to be capped because of our strategy towards captive preservation.
04:22We don't go alone.
04:24It has to be co-financed as well with other entities.
04:27So any type of investment that we deploy, we always make sure that there is a job creation element to
04:34also empower and enable.
04:36Because the idea of investment for the fund itself, it's development financed.
04:42For investors, the aim is to make a return on their money.
04:46For the countries seeking investment here, the potential benefits are jobs, stronger local businesses, and better services.
