World Bank - "Over 70 percent of government investment-promotion intermediaries miss out on investment and job- creating opportunities by failing to provide accurate and timely information to potential investors, the World Bank said Monday in a report.

The report entitled Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking 2009 (GIPB) shows how effectively government agencies are promoting their countries to foreign investors. It examines the ability of 181 countries to influence foreign investors' site-selection process.... According to the report, only 10 out of 181 countries followed up with potential investors to secure projects...." [Xinhua/Factiva]

Business World writes that "...GIPB 2009 showed the East Asia and the Pacific region scoring 40 percent or 'weak' in 2008, albeit an improvement from 2006 in an index that has 100 percent as the highest possible score.... 'Overall, Asia has improved its performance by 25 percentage points in the last two years. Eight of the top improvers worldwide are in this region: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka and Thailand ... However, elsewhere in Asia, performance has remained weak.... These weak results are primarily explained by a failure to respond to inquiries,' the Bank said, adding that the survey's methodology favored those that responded to inquiries within 48 hours...." [Business World (Philippines)/Factiva]