UN declares 'Invest India' winner of Investment Promotion Award 2020
The evaluation was based on UNCTAD's assessment of work undertaken by 180 national investment promotion agencies across the world.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has declared 'Invest India' as winner of the United Nations Investment Promotion Award 2020.
The award ceremony took place on Monday at the UNCTAD headquarters in Geneva.
It recognises and celebrates the outstanding achievements of the world's investment promotion agencies.
The evaluation was based on UNCTAD's assessment of work undertaken by 180 national investment promotion agencies across the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic had generated important challenges for investment promotion agencies (IPAs) forcing them to shift focus from routine investment promotion and facilitation towards crisis management, notification of government emergency and economic relief measures, provision of crisis support services, and contribution to national COVID-19 business response efforts. All this was being done while agencies had closed offices, moved functions online and asked staff to work from home.
In March 2020, UNCTAD constituted a team to monitor IPAs response to the pandemic. UNCTAD reported best practices from investment promotion agencies in the IPA Observer publications in April 2020 and July 2020. IPAs response to the pandemic became the basis for the evaluation of the 2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award.
"UNCTAD highlighted good practices followed by 'Invest India' such as the Business Immunity Platform, Exclusive Investment Forum webinar series, its social media engagement and focus COVID-19 response teams," the commerce ministry said.
National investment promotion and facilitation agency Invest India has also shared long-term strategies and practices being followed for investment promotion, facilitation and retention at UNCTAD's high-level brainstorming sessions, it added.
"The award is testament to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi)'s vision of making India a preferred investment destination with a focus on both ease of living and ease of doing business. It bears testimony to his focus on bringing excellence within the government," Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO, Invest India, said.
He added that this award also recognises the Indian government's effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This United Nations Investment Promotion Award is the highest-level award (Like the Oscars) for investment promotion agencies. UNCTAD is the central agency that monitors performance of investment promotion agencies and identifies global best practices. Germany, South Korea and Singapore have been some of the past winners of the award.
(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context.)
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta