Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announces UNCTAD Award

DHAKA NEWS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the first winner of the UNCTAD Investment Promotion Awards 2012 and handed over the first prize at the grand opening of the World Investment Forum (WIF) in Qatar's capital Doha Friday night.

Malta Enterprise of Malta was the first winner of the UNCTAD Investment Promotion Awards.

The opening gala ceremony of the World Investment Forum (WIF), 2012 was organised at hotel St Regis in West Bay of Doha in cooperation with 13th 13th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) in Doha.

Hasina attended the award-giving ceremony as the guest of honour along with former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki and former President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Kaarina Halonen.

President of the Union of the Comoros Ikililou Dhoinine, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Almazbek Atambaev, President of Niger Issoufou Mahamadou, President of the Republic of Tunisia Moncef Marzouki and former president of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano also attended the function.

Mbeki declared the second award and handed it over to ProMex Group Mexico while former president of Finland Tarja Kaarina Halonen awarded the third prize to Beijing Haidian Investment Promotion Bureau of China.

Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority and Swaziland Grenada Industrial Development Corporation, Grenada won the runner-up awards.

UNCTAD established the World Investment Forum as the global centre of gravity for the investment community for discussing international investment issues and ways of helping the poor countries in foreign direct investment (FDI).

The three-day WIF-2012 will discuss policies needed for making investment by multinational companies and sovereign wealth funds work for sustainable development in the post-crisis global economy, including investment in low-carbon growth and technologies.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Cabinet Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud formally announced the opening of WIF while Secretary-General of UNCTAD Supachai Panitchpakdi made the opening remarks.

The award distribution ceremony was followed by an opera presented by the national operetta of Qatar and banquet.

The organisers presented the awards among the best-practicing investment organisations for their contributions to investment for job creation and skill development.