UNWTO Investment Forum
September 17th, 2020, Tbilisi, Georgia
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic unveiled that sustainable tourism requires sustainable investments are at the center of the solutions. Given its importance the UNWTO Investment Forum will be celebrated in the framework of the 112th session of the UNWTO Executive Council. It will provide to the members and strategic partners with relevant content and insights for further strategic initiatives related to investments.
Investments are a crucial component to recover and strengthen the tourism ecosystem. Beyond the financial instruments to facilitate liquidity to support the tourism value chain in the short term; we need to develop investment vehicles to accelerate the delusion of technology, inclusion and sustainability for the resilience of the sector post COVID-19.
Purpose
The UNWTO Investment Forum (IF) is an open strategic high-level platform that focuses on investment attraction, promotion and facilitation to provide a set of practical measures concerned with improving the predictability of investment frameworks, streamlining and speeding up requirements related to foreign investors, and enhancing coordination and cooperation to promote investments among stakeholders, such as host and home country governments, foreign investors and domestic corporations, as well as innovators in the tourism sector.
Objectives
Investment Networks
Foster high-level Investment Networks in order to access, promote and facilitate investments in the travel and tourism sector.
Provide insights
Provide insights to enable the exchange of best practices and know-how on investment attraction, promotion, and innovation of travel and tourism investments.
Diffuse knowledge
Diffuse knowledge on travel and tourism investments trends and guidelines to maximizing its impact.
International cooperation
Increase international cooperation, and channel technical assistance to implement an investment attraction and facilitation strategy.
Audience
The UNWTO Investment Forum is a high-level specialized event that gathers: Ministers of Tourism, and Economic Development, Traditional, Non-traditional Investors, Innovators, and Media partners to share best practices, case studies and insights, with a forward looking vision to attract, promote and facilitate sustainable investments for tourism development.
Value proposition
Aligned with the United Nations’ vision to transform the financial system towards sustainable development, and leverage opportunities to increase scalable sustainable investments, the UNWTO Investment Forum focuses on three pillars:
Foreign Direct Investment
Aligning global economic policies and financial mechanisms.
Tourism Value Chain and SMSs
Enhancing sustainable financing strategies for local impact.
Innovation and Digital Transformation
Seizing the potential of innovation, technology and digitalization to provide equitable finance.
Documents:
Provisional Programme
Welcome Address
Natela Turnava, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Keynote 1: Innovation and Sustainability as the New Normal
Natalia Bayona, Director Innovation, Digital Transformation and Investments (UNWTO)
Keynote 2: Presentation by Financial Times on FDI trends and policy insights
Tourism Foreign Direct Investments Trends and Guidelines, a scenario post Covid19
Jacopo Dettoni, Deputy Editor, fDi Magazine, FDi Intelligence, Financial Times
Chair: Alfonso Vegara, Founder and Honorary President, Fundacion Metropoli
- Christoph Kiessling, Vice President Lora Park
- Nicola Villa, Senior Vice President, Strategic Growth Mastercard
- Ahmed Alkhateeb, Minister of Tourism, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (TBC)
- Arlette Soudan-Nonault, Minister of Tourism and Environment of Republic of Congo
- (Recorded) Irene Arias Hofman, CEO IDB Lab, Inter-American Development Bank Group
- (Recorded) Alzbeta Klein, Director and Global Head of Climate Business, International Financial Corporation - IFC
Session I: Education and Technology
- (Recorded) Presentation 2: UNWTO Online Academy, Next Steps
Juan José Güemes, Chairman Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center | IE Business School - Presentation 4: World Tourism Identification Card: “an opportunity to reopen safe the tourism sector”
Antonio Santos del Valle, Wanderlust Passport, S.L. - Presentation 5: How to recover tourism through rural development?
Lisandro Menu-Marque, Corporative Director for Institutional Development, Globalia
Session II: Georgia Investment Panel
Chair: TBC
- Participant 1
- Participant 2
- Participant n
Closing Remarks
Natalia Bayona, Senior Expert on Innovation, Digital Transformation and Investments (UNWTO)
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