Investment policy capacity building and outreach

The OECD partners with countries and regional organisations to provide hands-on technical assistance in designing and implementing investment policies that drive sustainable development. For example, the OECD supports the formulation and modernisation of legal and regulatory frameworks and provides assistance to Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs). By leveraging its technical expertise, the OECD helps governments advance regulatory and institutional reforms. This support is underpinned by robust benchmarking tools, a comprehensive repository of good practices, and insights drawn from regulatory developments across OECD and partner countries.

The OECD collaborates with countries and regional organisations to strengthen their ability to create enabling conditions for sustainable investment, drawing on analysis, benchmarking and international good practices. It delivers tailored capacity-building activities, facilitates peer learning and exchanges, and supports inclusive stakeholder dialogues at national and regional levels. Capacity building activities aim to enhance the legal and institutional framework for investment and improve the quality, coordination and robustness of FDI statistical systems 

The OECD delivers comprehensive policy support to promote sustainable investment reforms at both national and regional levels across Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and the Middle East. Through tailored analysis, capacity building, and multi-stakeholder dialogue, the OECD works closely with governments, regional organisations, and other partners to strengthen legal and institutional frameworks, align investment policies with sustainable development objectives, and foster more inclusive and resilient investment ecosystems.

The OECD’s Investment Division outreach initiatives have focused, in the past decade, on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia (SEA), where efforts centred on enhancing investment policy frameworks and fostering sustainable investment practices. For example, in SEA, the OECD has partnered with ASEAN to increasingly adopt sustainable investment principles into national and regional economic initiatives. Most recently, the OECD conducted investment policy reviews with Indonesia and Thailand, and is currently finalising an FDI Qualities Review of Viet Nam, along with a review of investment policies under the more-better-safe framework with ASEAN.

In recent years, and building on these successes, the OECD’s Investment Division is expanding its work into Africa, the LAC region and Eurasia, where it supports tailored investment policy initiatives aimed at promoting inclusive growth and regional integration. In Africa, the OECD has strengthened its engagement with key regional economic communities such as SADC, ECOWAS and EAC, by delivering policy analysis that inform sustainable investment reforms. This is complemented by capacity-building initiatives that support the implementation of reforms by policymakers and attracting quality investment that supports inclusive and sustainable development. Similarly, in LAC, the OECD works with governments and regional bodies to strengthen sustainable investment policies, such as through regional and country reviews, as well as the LAC Investment Initiative that fosters knowledge exchange among LAC countries.

At the same time, we are deepening our cooperation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and in South and Central Asia to address emerging investment policy challenges related to the environment, digital transformation, national security, and capital flow dynamics. These initiatives aim to ensure investment policies are aligned with evolving sustainability priorities.