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A Comprehensive Toolkit of Innovative Investment Promotion Agency Services 1st. Edition

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COURSE TYPE
SELF-PACED
SESSION
-

COST
FREE

AVERAGE PARTICIPANT RATING

LANGUAGE
English

TIME COMMITMENT
6 hours per module (total of 24 hours)

RELATED PROGRAM

ABOUT THIS COURSE

Working as an investment promotion professional can be challenging, even more under the current circumstances. It requires an understanding of market dynamic, industry trends, corporate strategies and how they all interact daily. 

It also requires skills in the business of economic development and investment attraction, from best practices in investment promotion, marketing, value propositions, and lead generation through how to facilitate investment and provide business retention and expansion (aftercare) services.  

Also, unpredictable events and crises – such as the current COVID-19 pandemic – pose significant challenges for public policymakers. The IDB understands that Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) are at the forefront of business attraction and supply chain management and need to be ready to react quickly to these challenges. 

The Investment Promotion course series provides theoretical and practical tools for you to enhance your skills and knowledge as an investment promotion professional and also includes the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on international investment flows and government responses, identifies challenges, and provides access to best practices and innovative solutions. 

The Investment Promotion course series is a training curriculum for investment promotion agencies (IPAs) at a national or subnational level, export promotion organizations, economic development agencies (EDOs), diplomatic corps with a mandate to attract inward investment to their countries, people from academia, consulting companies, business associations, and related organizations that work with investment attraction and promotion and economic development from around the world. The main goal of the series is to enable you to develop a more focused strategy to bolster your countries or territories as a favorable destination for foreign direct investment. 

The course series began with Course: Towards the Next Generation of Investment Promotion Agencies, which focused on the main concepts of FDI and the IPA – its definition, functions, and strategy. It covered how an IPA should be developed and organized following best practices, also addressing sustainable development, and the services which can facilitate business establishment and expansion. This previous Course has been delivered through three editions through Spring 2020 with more than 2291 participants from 72 countries: 

Testimonies:  

“It provided me with tools to promote foreign direct investment and understanding of the proper terms of promotion agencies.” 

 “Great course and content. It helped me to get a comprehensive view regarding the cycle of investment. Activities were useful to apply theory in practice.” 

course part 1 & course part 2 banner

Important message: It is not a requirement to have completed or participated in Course Part 1, but, as we want you to successfully complete the course and have an enjoyable learning experience, please take note of the requirements in the section below.

Are you wondering whether you are ready for this Course Part II?  
Please consider the following questions: 

  • Do you have a deep understanding of how foreign direct investment impacts economic development? 

  • Do you know the types of FDI, institutional best practices and innovative programs, and the resources necessary to replicate them in your home country/territory? 

  • Do you understand an IPA’s portfolio of services throughout the project cycle? 

If you can confidently answer YES to these questions, congratulations!! you are ready for Course Part II. Also, there is a chance to refresh investment promotion key concepts on module 0 of this second Course. 

The Course: “A Comprehensive Toolkit of Innovative Investment Promotion Agency Services”, which covers such important topics as nation branding and image building, aftercare services that an IPA should implement to retain companies and support their expansion and the role of policy advocacy in improving the business climate. In addition, one full course module is dedicated to informing participants about world-class innovative programs and services currently offered by other IPAs. 

 

The course is structured into four modules. Each module focuses on a topic, includes learning resources, activities, and an assessment.  And is designed to take from four to six hours, spread out over around one week. 

PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS

The course is aimed at officials of investment promotion agencies (IPAs) at a national or subnational level (such states, regions or cities) , export promotion organizations, economic development organizations (EDOs), trade officers, diplomatic corps with a mandate to attract inward investment to their countries, people from academia, consulting companies, business associations, and related organizations that are familiar with investment attraction and promotion, economic development and commercial facilitation.

To successfully complete the course and have an enjoyable learning experience. Please take note of the following course requirements:

- Familiarity with the topic of foreign direct investments (FDI) (required). - A university degree and three (3) years of work experience in investment promotion, exports, or in an economic development organization (preferred). – Intermediate level of English proficiency. – An available time commitment of about five hours per module (total of 24 hours). – A work supervisor/colleague with whom you can consult each week for feedback on course activities.

COST & REIMBURSEMENTS

This course is free of charge, and financed by the IDB

COURSE STRUCTURE

KNOWLEDGE AREAS

SECTOR
Trade
TOPICS
Integration and Trade
Private Sector and Finance
COMPETENCIES
Development effectiveness

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

In order to participate in an online course you must have a computer with an Internet connection. We recommend that participants have the following:
  • Connection: Access to high speed data network – not dial-up (wire, DSL, etc.)
  • Processor: Pentium IV 3.0 Ghz / equivalent or superior processor (a dual core processor recommended)
  • Operating System: Windows XP Service Pack 3, Windows Vista Service Pack 2, Windows 7 & 8 with the latest updates installed (updates availables on: http://update.microsoft.com ), GNU/Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc)
  • RAM Memory: 2+ Gigabytes RAM
  • Hard Disk: 120 Gb
  • SoundCard and speakers (headset (microphone, headphones) connected to the soundcard of the computer)
  • Software: to install latest updates unless otherwise specified:
    • Internet Browser: Firefox / Chrome / Internet Explorer 8 or superior
    • Internet explorer: http://www.microsoft.com/ie
    • Firefox: http://www.firefox.com
    • Chrome: http://google.com/chrome
    • Anti – virus: Current
    • Office Automation: Microsoft Word 2003 or later, Libre, LibreOffice, OperOffice
    • Java / JRE: http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
    • Adobe Flash Player: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
    • Adobe Reader: http://get.adobe.com/reader
    • QuickTime: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
The advantage of an online course is that you can attend class from any location and without having to keep a strict schedule. This facilitates the participation of students and teachers from diverse backgrounds, enriching the process of transculturalization in the global approach we intend to take in these courses.
Each course has been designed to be completed in a predetermined number of hours. While the virtual classroom allows for flexible hours, you must commit to comply with the allotted timeframe for completing each module. This course includes group activities, during which you will need to coordinate your work with peers assigned to your group.
The Virtual Classroom you will find all of the necessary information that corresponds to your course; from the different sections of the room you can access learning materials, assignments, tests, and other relevant documents
You can ask your questions via the forums and messaging tool, as well as by emailing your course tutor.
Upon successful completion of the online course, participants will be able to obtain a certification and/or a digital badge following the particular criteria of each self-guided course. For more information, about the criteria to obtain a digital certificate or badge, you can write directly to the help center
If you would like to receive information about future courses, register for our E-Alerts; this will automatically send you information about future events.
For technical assistance, our support team is ready and available to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can contact us at INDES-HELP; please be ready to explain in detail the problem you’re encountering.

ABOUT INDES

INDES has completed a number of publications, including books, case studies, and other work documents and publications. Click here to see a list of all INDES publications.
If a participant needs to withdraw from a course due to circumstances beyond his/her control, INDES will make every effort to refund the course fee. However, due to the high administrative costs involved in processing a check from the Inter-American Development Bank to a given participant, the following conditions will apply:
  • 1.Virtual courses: No refunds will be given for virtual courses. Participants will receive a course payment transfer which can be used for any courses offered by INDES during the next year.
  • 2.Course payment transfer policy: If a participant requests to transfer his/her course payment to participate in a future edition of a course due to circumstances beyond his/her control (ex. health issues, family issues), the course coordinator will make the decision as to whether or not to grant him/her the transfer. It is important to note that course payment transfers are reserved exclusively for those persons who find themselves in an unexpected situation which prevents them from participating in the course. This privilege may only be used once. Depending on the course, a difference in course fees of a future edition to which the participant has transferred may apply
  • 3.In case of dismissal: No refunds or course payment transfers will be given to a participant who is dismissed from a course due to inappropriate behavior as detailed in the participant dismissal policy
Any participant whose failure to comply with the conditions established in the course syllabus may lose his/her right to continue accessing the virtual classroom. Failure to comply with any of the following conditions will result in immediate dismissal from the course and may not be eligible for a course payment transfer:
  • Failure to complete two of the mandatory evaluated activities
  • Failure of a participant to access the virtual classroom during the timeframe established in the course syllabus
  • Any participant that continues to behave inappropriately in the virtual classroom after having received notification about his/her inappropriate behavior from the instructor/tutor and/or course coordinator concerning the inappropriate behavior.
Instructor responsibilities: Each instructor has different responsibilities during course preparation and will play different roles during the course. The team is comprised of a course coordinator, who has developed the didactic material related to the content and the introductory instructions to the course activities, and the instructor-tutors. The instructor-tutors are a satellite group supporting INDES who have participated in the course creation as well as having taken an INDES train-the-trainer course and a face-to-face INDES course related to social management. The course instruction will be built on exchanges that include the course coordinator and the course instructor-tutor. The responsibilities of each are detailed below: Coordinator: The course coordinator is charged with the coordination and supervision of the course development, including:
  • Supervising the didactic material and the description of the course activities
  • Monitoring the course tutor
  • Participating in some of the discussions during the course
  • Defining the evaluation matrices and guidelines for course activities
  • Reviewing participant evaluations and their corresponding academic certificates
  • Intervening in possible appeals or disagreements between the instructor-tutor and participants in reference to said evaluations
Instructor-tutor: The course instructor-tutor is focused on the participant orientation, monitoring and interaction, through communication resources available in the INDES virtual classroom: instant messaging, forums and announcements. The instructor-tutor’s commitment during the course can be summarized as follows:
  • Respond to messages within 24 hours during the weekday and within 48 hours during the weekend
  • Review submitted papers and provide feedback to participants within 3 days (72 hours)
  • Notify a participant of losing his/her right to continue in the course in the case of not having adhered to his/her responsibilities as detailed in the participant section below
  • Provide guidance to participants in the course dynamics and facilitate exchanges among participants
  • Provide information relevant to participant performance at the end of the course
Participant responsibilities: Participants are responsible for their own learning process. Their expected to fulfill the following commitments:
  • Access the course at least once a day to keep informed of proposed course activities, lectures and tasks
  • Fulfill proposed task requirements by the established deadlines, both individual and group activities
  • Keep the instructor-tutor informed about any exceptional circumstances which may impede compliance with participant responsibilities in the course and submit incomplete assignments as indicated by the instructor-tutor
  • Perform all required course work, individual as well as group activities. Actively participate in group activities. Group activity is obligatory. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in losing the right to access the classroom and the course
  • Collaborate in the learning of other participants in the course, sharing experiences, ideas and lessons with the instructor-tutor and other participants
Any participant who fails to fulfill these commitments puts his/her achievement of the course objectives in jeopardy and may lose his/her right to access the classroom. Failure to comply with the following obligations will result in automatic suspension of said rights:
  • Failure to access the classroom for more than one week
  • Failure to participate in any group activities
  • Failure to turn in or partial completion of three or more required activities
  • Continued unacceptable behavior in the classroom after having been notified by the instructor-tutor and/or the course coordinator of this unacceptable behavior
  • Participants should bring their grievances to their course coordinator for appropriate consideration
  • Course coordinators will address grievances within a 48-hour period
  • If the grievance is not satisfactorily addressed within this time frame, participants can bring grievances in the following link INDES-HELP
If a grievance is in regards to a course coordinator specifically, the coordinator may be bypassed and the grievance directly submitted in the following link INDES-HELP too.