Printed in Austria UNIDO EVALUATION GROUP V.07-85445—July 2007—65 Independent Evaluation ITALY UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotions Office in Italy UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 300, 1400 Vienna, Austria Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-0, Fax: (+43-1) 26926-69 UNITED NATIONS E-mail: [email protected], Internet: http://www.unido.org INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION unido evaluation group Independent Evaluation ITALY UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotions Office in Italy UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION Vienna, 2007 Distr. GENERAL OSL/EVA/R.4 21 May 2007 Original: English The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Contents Abbreviations ...................................................................................................v Glossary of DAC terms .....................................................................................vi Executive summary..........................................................................................vii I Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 II The evolving international landscape of investment promotion....................... 3 III The institutional environment for investment promotion in Italy..................... 7 IV UNIDO’s role in investment promotion and the ITPO Italy........................... 15 History of UNIDO’s role in investment promotion.................................................... 15 The ITPO mandate....................................................................................................... 16 Investment promotion in contemporary UNIDO....................................................... 17 History of the ITPO Italy ............................................................................................. 18 Mode of operation of the ITPO Italy .......................................................................... 21 Financing of the ITPO Italy......................................................................................... 22 V Activities and achievements of the ITPO Italy ............................................... 27 A wide range of activities...................................................................................27 Support to implementing Law 49/87 .................................................................27 The Investment Promotion Units........................................................................29 Promotion of Industrial Investment Projects.......................................................31 General promotional activities ...........................................................................37 The delegates programme..................................................................................43 The “Serbia project”...........................................................................................44 VI Client and delegates surveys carried out under the evaluation .................... 60 The survey among client companies .......................................................................... 60 The survey among delegates....................................................................................... 64 VII Conclusions .............................................................................................. 66 Relevance of the operation ......................................................................................... 66 Effectiveness of the ITPO Italy ................................................................................... 69 Efficiency of implementation...................................................................................... 75 VIII Recommendations.................................................................................... 78 General recommendations to UNIDO ........................................................................ 78 Short-term recommendations to UNIDO ................................................................... 79 Recommendations to the Government and UNIDO.................................................. 79 Recommendations to the ITPO Italy .......................................................................... 80 Annex A: Terms of reference of the evaluation................................................ 81 Annex B: List of persons interviewed............................................................... 87 Annex C: Guidelines for the functioning of ITPOs .………………………….………89 iii Acknowledgements The evaluation team gratefully acknowledges the support and information provided by respondents at UNIDO Headquarters and at the ITPO Italy, at the Italian Government and by the clients and partners of the ITPO. Their contributions to this evaluation have been invaluable. Notes Mention of company names and commercial products does not imply the endorsement of UNIDO. The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the evaluation team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Italy and of UNIDO. This document has not been formally edited. iv Abbreviations CDM Clean Development Mechanism COMFAR Computer Model for Feasibility Analysis and Reporting CP CleanerPproduction CSR Corporate Social Responsibility DAC Development Assistance Committee of the OECD DGCS Direzione Generale e Cooperazione allo Sviluppo (Directorate General Development Cooperation) DIPP Database for Investment Promotion Programme EDFI European Development Finance Institutions EU European Union FDI Foreign Direct Investment HQ Headquarters ICE Instituto del Commercio Estero (Institute of Foreign Trade) IDB Industrial Development Board of UNIDO IGR Investment Generation Ration IPS Investment Promotion Service (former name of ITPOs) IPU Investment Promotion Unit IITP Industrial Investment and Technology Project ITPO Investment and Technology Promotion Office IPI Institute of Industrial Promotion MAE Ministero Affari Esteri (Ministry for Foreign Affairs) MAP Ministry of Productive Activities MinAmb Ministero Ambiente (Ministry for Environment) WAIPA World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies v Glossary of DAC terms Term Definition Baseline: The situation, prior to an intervention, against which progress can be assessed. Effect Intended or unintended change due directly or indirectly to an intervention. Effectiveness The extent to which the development objectives of an intervention were or are expected to be achieved. Efficiency A measure of how economically inputs (through activities) are converted into outputs. Impact Positive and negative, intended and non-intended, directly and indirectly, long term effects produced by a development intervention. Indicator Quantitative or qualitative factors that provide a means to measure the changes caused by an intervention. Intervention An external action to assist a national effort to achieve specific development goals. Lessons learned Generalizations based on evaluation experiences that abstract from specific to broader circumstances. Logframe (logical Management tool used to guide the planning, implementation and framework evaluation of an intervention. System based on MBO (management approach) by objectives) also called RBM (results based management) principles. Outcomes The achieved or likely effects of an intervention’s outputs. Outputs The products in terms of physical and human capacities that result from an intervention. Relevance The extent to which the objectives of an intervention are consistent with the requirements of the end-users, government and donor’s policies. Risks Factors, normally outside the scope of an intervention, which may affect the achievement of an intervention’s objectives. Sustainability The continuation of benefits from an intervention, after the development assistance has been completed Target groups The specific individuals or organizations for whose benefit an intervention is undertaken. vi Executive summary General relevance and mandate should be revisited The ITPO network comprises Offices in 13 countries.1 According to the general ITPO mandate stipulated by the UNIDO General Conference, ITPOs should contribute to the industrial development and economic growth of developing countries through promoting industrial investment from the ITPO host countries. Evidence from the present evaluation suggests that this dual mission can be problematic. The ITPO mandate does not make a clear distinction between the specific role of UNIDO, as an international organisation, in promoting outbound investment from industrialized countries as compared to national organisations with a similar mandate. In order to clarify the general questions of ITPO relevance and mandate it is recommended that UNIDO should carry out a broader evaluation of the ITPO network as a whole. Annex D documents a complementary point of view provided by the former ITPO Director on the need for revisiting the general ITPO mandate. ITPO Italy: relevant but biased towards national policies The ITPO Italy is relevant to at least three national policy priorities: internationalization of SMEs, promotion of outbound investment and economic growth of developing countries. The latter