Hamdan Centre for the Future of Investment hosts an Aftercare book launch ceremony

The Dubai Investment Development Agency (Dubai FDI) in the Department of Economy and Tourism recently organised the global launch of ‘Investment Aftercare Explained: A Guide for FDI Practitioners and Policymakers on How to Grow and Retain Investors’ in Dubai. The first FDI guide to systematically map the last step of a foreign investor’s journey, the book is written by leading FDI advisor Carolina Arriagada Peters, senior economist David Coble, assistant professor Toby X. Li and serial foreign investor Brendan Lewis.

Aftercare became a priority for Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) as they strive to boost FDI reinvestments, facilitate investor journey and accelerate economic recovery, especially after COVID-19.

Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of Dubai FDI, said: “We believe investor aftercare has been one of the central pillars that have sustained FDI flows into Dubai and helped the city improve on its leading position in global rankings.”

Carolina Arriagada Peters, lead author of the book who is also Managing Director of Cities and Collaboration and founder of fdiCampus, said “We have interviewed dozens of IPAs/EDOs, spoken to many investors and done hundreds of researches to bring the best insights to the industry.”

The launch was held under the patronage of Hamdan Centre for the Future of Investment (HCFI) ‘IPAs Capacity 2030’ programme, that aims to build capacity, skills and partnerships needed to realize a US $15 trillion (AED 55 trillion, approximately) Impact FDI opportunity by 2030.

Ismail Ersahin, Executive Director of World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), said: “WAIPA collaborates closely with HCFI on ‘IPAs Capacity 2030’ to establish future-fit learning and development for IPAs, enhancing their ability to offer state-of-the-art services.”

Alexandre de Crombrugghe, Secretariat of OECD IPA Network and Economist at OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) who wrote the foreword of the book said: “IPAs have a unique role to play in managing government-businesses relationship, especially in terms of the continuous support and responses”.