Meeting Agent Yuri

So my final task before becoming a tourist for the day tomorrow was to meet Agent Yuri. Yuri Andreev is our man in Moscow and it just so happened he was in Istanbul to meet UKTI and speak to a couple of companies. 

At our designated rendezvous we exchanged pleasantries and the microfiche containing plans for the the top secret thermo-capacitor, then we headed out for dinner. Yuri, a seasoned traveller fell foul of an excellent shoe polish scam, superbly executed. We laughed as he continued the walk with one shined shoe.

Over dinner we chatted about a lot of things. He's an easy going companion. However, we spoke of SDI's purpose in the area. SDIs interest it seems is twofold:

1. Istanbul is an ideal location for exploring oil & gas opportunities in neighbouring Turkmenistan and Iraq. Interestingly, this is also the approach of the Wallonia (Belgium) investment promotion agenacy.
2. Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies in the world right now - it's the T in the MINT group of countries.

Together we also learnt that we both like Barbunya - beans.

Agent Yuri

A tale of two Carlos'

Today the conference was in the form of three plenary sessions. I'll be honest, the first two were pretty uninspiring with a lot of chat around the growing importance of emerging markets - I mean, we're well aware of this. However, after lunch the final session called "Outside Perception v In Country Reality". Essentially, a discussion about tackling the negative perceptions some countries face.

On the panel were two guys named Carlos. Carlos Brago, an economist and former director at the World Bank, and Carlos Bronzatto, Director of WAIPA and former employee of APEX Brazil. Both could be Bond villains in their own right.

Carlos Brago opened the discussion with five points about how, in his experience, perception didn't matter. What really mattered were the following:

1. Time horizon - FDI is generally resilient and not fleet of foot
2. Type of FDI -  is it market driven, resource driven or efficiency driven
3. Regulatory Framework - humans are typically gloomy and a good framework gives some security
4. Transparency of Government
5. How does an investment sit in the global value chain

All very good, but then Carlos 2 basically said that the IPA in Brazil doesn't care about external ratings, or FDI opportunities in areas they already excel in. They are only interested in developing certain sectors they want to move into as a nation. As such, when they are mystery shopped by the World Bank with a potential Agri-Business FDI (Brazil is probably number one in the world in this field), the IPA performs badly and receives the country a poor rating.

Carlos 1 was appalled - so was I - this means that for some IPAs the concept of comparative advantage is irrelevant to them. Moreover, as an agency, they aren't opportunity driven. They have mistaken the sectoral focus of successful IPA activity as being the sole focus of the agency.

Hey ho!

Carlos 1 & 2 sitting centre.

They want our cheese!

Martin Kerr often cites a book called Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson. Today I discovered we at SDI should write our own book entitled They Want Our Cheese. You see, I always appreciated that we competed to bring jobs and investment to the Scotland. However, I didn't appreciate just how much the others wanted it too!

It's estimated that 60% of all global FDI now goes to emerging markets. Moreover, at the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 just 5% of global FDI came from developing economies. Today that figure stands at around 35%. Developing countries are growing faster a developing their infrastructures at a phenomenal rate.

I listened to the Turkish Finance Minister say how within 10 years he wanted to achieve the EU average across almost every economic indicator. That represents growth of around 40% in that time. By 2050 they want to increase the size of the economy fivefold.

By investing in infrastructure and competing for FDI they want to catch France as the world's most popular tourist destination, match German engineering and overtake Italy as the worlds number one producer of fashion and textiles.

What really got me was matter of fact way he described it as "reasonably achievable."

In short, they want our cheese.

The Turkish Finance Minister

I told you so!

So before coming here I was like, "Man, that travel training is pure naff, I mean when is that ever going to happen."

I decided to walk from the conference back from the hotel. In hindsight, that was my first mistake. My map wasn't to scale, and not even in the least bit accurate. As a result I'm totally lost in the middle of Istanbul - I'm not too bothered, I've been lost in worse places. I spot a Metro station and I know there is a station within walking distance of the hotel. "At last two points of reference", I think.

I ride the Metro to the station near my hotel. I get out the station still entirely unsure where I'm going and I walk straight into this.....

I remember the training. Walkaway at a perpendicular angle. I do so and in so doing stumble into the hotel.

This never happened to 007

I've arrived in Istanbul (not Constantinople). Sent by M to meet our man Yuri from the Moscow office and to infiltrate the shadowy world of WAIPA (World Associationof Investment Promotion Agencies). However, despite my SCUBA training I'm no James Bond. I'm more a cup of tea kind of a guy.

At the airport I jump in the taxi and show the guy the hotel name. He smiles and says something in Turkish. I smile and hope for the best. 5 minutes later we arrive at the right chain, but wrong location. I know this is the wrong location because Google says it takes about 30 minutes. I utter a place name in Turkish. The driver smiles - apparently his fare has just tripled.

Anyway, I've made it.