Photo by: Duane Daws
Trade and Industry South Africa (Tisa) and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) were this week awarded Investment Promotion Awards for excellence in promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) projects to advance sustainable development.
The awards ceremony was held during the opening of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) World Investment Forum on Monday.
Tisa and the RDB were two of four investment promotion agencies (IPAs) to receive awards, with invesTT from Trinidad and Tobago and UK Trade and Investment also having received recognition for their efforts.
The awards were presented by the interim Prime Minister of Tunisia Mehdi Jomaa, President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter, Inter-Parliamentarian Union president Abdelwahed Radi and United Nations Development Programme goodwill ambassador Didier Drogba.
Thirty-one projects from 29 agencies had qualified for the awards. These agencies showed achievements in the areas of renewable energy, green manufacturing, waste treatment, electric vehicles and green housing construction.
The IPAs received the awards for their role in attracting and facilitating projects and their efforts in magnifying their economic, social and environmental impact, said Unctad Investment and Enterprise director James Zhan.
This year's Investment Promotion Awards come at a critical juncture as United Nations member States prepare to adopt a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) for the period up to 2030.
The SDGs would encompass a range of economic, social and environmental objectives, as well as measures aiming at climate change mitigation and adaption.