SEE Investment Committee

The South East Europe Investment Committee is a high level coordination body set up to support the implementation of policies promoting foreign and domestic investment in SEE. It was launched by South East European countries and UNMIK/Kosovo on 02 April 2007 and is designed to enhance regional leadership for common strategies. The Committee is closely associated with other relevant regional initiatives such as the South East European Co-operation Process (SEECP) and the Regional Co-operation Council (RCC). The Investment Compact acts as the management and support body of the Committee.

Objectives

The SEE Investment Committee has 3 main responsibilities.

• It is responsible for developing guidelines on how to implement policy reforms in the selected priority areas identified in the Investment Reform Index 2006 evaluation.
• It is responsible for monitoring and implementing the Regional Framework for Investment, adopted by SEE ministers of economy in Vienna on 26 June 2007, and serves as a platform for consultations on investment-related issues.
• It acts as the investment arm of the Regional Co-operation Council following a decision by the signatories of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).

Structure

The SEE Investment Committee is composed of senior officials (Deputy Ministers) and their advisors. It meets twice a year and at Ministerial level once a year.

The SEE Investment Committee oversees the work of 4 Working Groups set up to develop action plans and capacity building programmes for the implementation of the priority reforms. The Working groups have a clear mandate and are defined on the basis of the Investment Reform Index regional and country priorities and on specific requests from ministers. The Working Groups can also develop proposals on good practices to further promote regional integration and to remove obstacles to investment.

Four Working Groups have been set up for the period 2007-2008. They focus on the following IRI dimensions: Anti-Corruption, Human capital, Investment Promotion and Regulatory Reform.

The Working Groups are composed of 1-2 country experts (from the investment promotion agency and/or relevant ministry), 2-3 OECD experts, 1-2 representatives of international partner organisations, 2-3 private sector representatives and 1-2 Investment Compact analysts.

Bulgaria (Investment Promotion), Croatia (Human Capital), Romania (Anti-corruption) and Serbia (Regulatory Reform) each chair a Working Group.

Meetings

Investment Committee

1st Meeting of the SEE Investment Committee, 02 April 2007

2nd Meeting of the SEE Investment Committee, 11 November 2007

3rd Meeting of the SEE Investment Committee, 23 May 2008

Working Groups

Human Capital

1st Meeting of the Working Group on Human Capital, 10 July 2007

Investment Promotion

1st Meeting of the Working Group on Investment Promotion, 18 June 2007

2nd Meeting of the Working Group on Investment Promotion, 09-10 April 2008

Regulatory Reform

1st Meeting of the Working Group on Regulatory Reform, 30-31 October 2007

2nd Meeting of the Working Group on Regulatory Reform, 02-03 April 2008

Further Information

For information on the Human Capital Working Group, please contact erin.hengel@oecd.org.

For information on the Investment Promotion Working Group, please contact andrea.beltramello@oecd.org.

For information on the Regulatory Reform Working Group, please contact jakob.fexer@oecd.org.