W E L C O M E

The Philippines through the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Committee on Foreign Direct Investments Statistics (IACFDIS) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is hosting the 14th Meeting of the Working Group on Foreign Direct Investments Statistics (WGFDIS) in ASEAN to be held at EDSA Shangri-la Hotel, One Garden Way, Mandaluyong City, Philippines on 18 – 20 July 2006.

Rationale

The Working Group on Foreign Direct Investment Statistics (WGFDIS) is a body composed of ASEAN member countries whose main aim is to identify specific approaches for resolving FDI technical data collection problems as well as the development of common methodologies for the generation of uniform FDI indicators on emerging concerns and ASEAN relations with other regions, with the end in view of harmonizing FDI statistics in the ASEAN region.

In order to promote the exchange of information among ASEAN countries, the ASEAN Secretariat conducts WGFDIS meetings regularly twice a year. As an ASEAN member-nation, the Philippines has been attending the WGFDIS meetings which member countries take turns in hosting.

This year, the Philippines will be hosting the 14th WGFDIS meeting which has been tentatively scheduled on 18-20 July 2006. This is the second time that the Philippines will be hosting the meeting, six years after the organizational meeting was held in the country in 2000.

The 14th WGFDIS meeting shall specifically tackle the following:

  • Brainstorming sessions on services FDI (how to capture FDI in services sectors, particularly for tourism, healthcare and e-ASEAN);
  • Presentation of FDI trends and developments of ASEAN member countries in 2005 and Q1 2006 (for BOP data) and 2005 and H1 2006 (for administrative FDI data);
  • Bilateral discussions with ASEAN member countries regarding submitted FDI data sets; and
  • Brief discussion on realized investment.

Objectives

The Philippine hosting of the 14th WGFDIS meeting aims to;

  • Facilitate the conduct of the whole event with the end in view of attaining the specific objectives of the WGFDIS meeting; and
  • Contribute to the continuous development of FDI statistics in the region specifically through the collection of statistics on FDI in services