Empowering investors, to drive global economic growth and make the world better, has always been the number one objective of the Annual Investment Meeting AIM.
Over more than 10 years, AIM has evolved into the world’s leading investment platform, with 6 strategic pillars, including the Foreign Direct Investment, a pillar that helps investors learn and discover promising investment opportunities across different countries and regions all over the world.
In this context, the upcoming edition of AIM will be focusing on the vital role that Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) are playing in the international investment arena. Therefore, the AIM Global 2022, planned to take place at the Expo 2020 in Dubai from 29th to 31st of March 2022, is taking a bold initiative, in partnership with KPMG, to leverage the vital role of Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) – to achieve AIM’s overall objective of promoting investments worldwide.
That said, let’s ask a couple of questions. What’s the story of AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards? How it all started?
AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards | Setting the Context
With the picture of global Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) currently very clear, the Annual Investment Meeting has moved forward, in collaboration with KPMG, to take advantage of the major shift that has taken place at the level of IPAs in the wake of COVID-19.
KPMG is a British-Dutch multinational professional services network. KPMG firms operate in 145 countries and territories, with over 236,000 employees. With 3 lines of services - financial audit, tax, and advisory – KPMG is helping global organizations mitigate risks and grasp opportunities, thus driving positive, sustainable change for clients, people and society at large.
After the Coronavirus pandemic, and due to the current global dialogue around sustainability, resilience, equality and innovation, almost all IPAs have moved forward to integrate new value systems and frameworks that support economic transformation in their respective regions. Thus, the IPAs had to transform themselves from acting as a traditional knowledge-based or coordination institutions which conduct matchmaking to full-scale advisors that guide investment decisions globally for a specific region, with sharp propositions.
In a nutshell, IPAs all over the world have, since then, been making relentless efforts to respond to the COVID-19 emergency by adopting reactive strategies that included incentivizing the healthcare and medical devices sector, intervening to localize supply chains, fostering the global digital transformation, in addition to conducting intensified screening of Foreign Direct Investment FDI, and, overall, putting a dent in the pace of global investment.
That being the case, AIM, in partnership with KPMG, has swiftly seized the opportunity to bring these inventive methodologies to the Annual Investment Meeting as a global platform that enables knowledge sharing and collective growth.
Consequently, AIM and KPMG have jointly launched the ‘Investment Promotion Agency (IPA) Perception Survey & Awards’ - aiming to measure the recovery path charted by global IPAs and also to recognize all the efforts made by IPAs that are sound and in line with the expectations of the global investor.
Notably, the survey aspires to end up with a report that captures the voice of global IPAs and their experiences on the evolution of investment promotion practices, goals and trends.
And, here comes the AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards. Let’s cast a glance.
AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards
In collaboration with KPMG, the Annual Investment Meeting AIM aspires to utilize the AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards to give recognition to the best Investment Promotion Agencies IPAs across the globe.
In a prestigious ceremony, that will be held during the Gala Dinner that will take place on the 29th of March 2022 at Armani Hotel, Dubai, AIM will provide awards to the best FDI projects in each region of the world to recognize each particular country’s accomplishment in attracting sizable and beneficial investment projects, and, thereby, their contribution to the economic growth and development of their markets.
Remarkably, participating IPAs will be grouped in specific categories, with the awards based on in-depth assessment of the best practices implemented under the different categories.
AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards | Key Categories
Taking into consideration the contextual background against which each IPA operates, IPAs with characteristic similarities will be grouped and assessed in the following 6 categories:
1-Best Knowledge & Digital Hub Award: The criterion for determining the winning IPA is “the best practice for creation of globally recognized knowledge assets through effective dissemination channels”.
2-Top Digital & Innovation Powerhouse Award: The criterion for determining the winning IPA is “leveraging either in-house or market-based technology solutions to drive a more streamlined investment promotion mandate”.
3-Turbocharging Startups & SMEs: The criterion for determining the winning IPA is the “promotion of inclusive growth through programs focused on supporting the Startup Ecosystem, and Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) and ensuring equitable regional and investment growth”.
4-Sustainable Investments: The criteria for determining the winning IPA are “domestic and international investments that consider environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) criteria to generate long-term competitive financial returns and positive societal impact”.
5-Most Agile: The criterion for determining the winning IPA is the “ability of the IPA to develop robust and flexible action plans and execute them in the view of market shocks and geo-economic uncertainties”.
6-Ecosystem Enabler: The criterion for determining the winning IPA is “building a conducive business ecosystem (includes social, economic, labor, policy, and compliance standards)”.
So, what will IPAs get out of this?
AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards | The Benefits
There are numerous benefits that the winning IPA in each category will get out of the AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards scheme. Let’s take a glance at them.
- The Winner IPA will be honored during the official Gala Dinner by the UAE Minister of Economy.
- The Winner IPA will receive comprehensive promotion and marketing through AIM & KPMG Social Media platforms.
- Advertisement in AIM 2023 Exhibition Catalogue.
- Coverage in AIM 2022 Post Show Report.
- Complimentary Delegate Pass for the winning IPA Head and one of the IPA Representatives.
- Free Access to all AIM & KPMG’s Economic Growth Features: Conference, Exhibition, Training Workshop, and Gala dinner.
- AIM will make the necessary steps for the granting of Visas for all the Country Delegation attending AIM.
- Winners will be given access to KPMG’s market reports and invite-only webinars.
- Award winners will have an exclusive opportunity to present their winning case with the IPA community at Dubai Expo and showcase themselves as global leaders
- Invitation to AIM Gala Dinner
Last but not least, the scoring methodology for AIM Global 2022 Investment Awards is fully transparent, with the following weightage: 10% for Responsiveness & Engagement of Leadership, 30% for Strategic & Tactical Levers, 30% for Performance in 2021, 15% for Outcome Orientation, and, finally, 15% for Market Return Strategy post COVID.
