An investment promotion agency (IPA) is most often a government agency (or occasionally a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

functioning similar to a

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

or business consulting corporation) whose mission is to attract investment to a country, state, region or city. They do this through the use of marketing activities by creating awareness about a location as an attractive destination for investment. Generally, IPAs have four core functions: image building of FDI hosting country, investment generation, project management and aftercare services. While IPAs play an important role in attracting investment to developed countries some IPAs have additional advocacy function. The IPA does this by introducing investors with local suppliers (raw materials or other inputs); providing useful statistical data and business information such as

macroeconomic indicators Macroeconomic indicators are aggregated statistics for a geography, population, or political jurisdiction gathered by agencies and bureaus of various government statistical organization, and sometimes by private organizations using similar techniqu ...

(

GNP The gross national income (GNI), previously known as gross national product (GNP), is the total amount of factor incomes earned by the residents of a country. It is equal to gross domestic product (GDP), plus factor incomes received from n ...

GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performance o ...

, HDI,

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

etc.), labor productivity, average wages, attractive sectors of domestic economy; practical support like securing permits or completing other administrative obligations; and by managing any investment incentives that the city, state or country may offer to foreign investors (companies or individuals).

See also

References

Further reading