Republic of Maldives
April 9-10, 2003
 

FIAS, with support from UK DFID, successfully convened the 2nd High Level South Asia Foreign Direct Investment Roundtable held at the Bandos Island Resort in the Republic of Maldives.  More information about the agenda and objectives of the program are available in the conference brochure.

The theme of the Roundtable was 'Administrative barriers to investment: Balancing the costs and benefits of regulation'. The specific focus of the event was on key regulatory administrative barriers in the areas of entry approvals and registration, customs, tax and foreign exchange controls administration.

The event was attended by four-person country delegation comprising senior officials from the relevant agencies in each of the South Asian countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Invited private sector participants and representatives of inter-governmental institutions also participated.

The following papers below were pre-circulated to participants:

• The importance of institutions in determining the investment environment
• A foreign investor's experience with administrative barriers in South Asia
• International benchmarks for administrative barriers and lessons concerning reform
• Entry Approvals and Registration
• Customs Administration
• Tax Administration
• Foreign Exchange Controls and Administration

A report summarizing discussions at the roundtable will be circulated to participants.

FIAS is working on specific projects with country clients in the region. Following the Roundtable, FIAS is discussing further projects in region specifically related to administrative barrier issues.