On June 2nd, 2017, hosted jointly by the International Trade and Sustainable Development Research Center (ICSTD) and the World Economic Forum, the fourth strategic dialogue on Sustainable International Investment was held in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting is conducted in a closed-door roundtable. The participants are mainly from the WTO, the OECD, UNCTAD policy, and academic experts such as trade and investment-related international organizations. The meeting aims at depth discussion on the impact of international investment (FDI) on sustainable development (SDG) in the context of globalization, and practices assessment of international investment (SFDI) based on the sustainable development and other hot topics in the field of international economic and governance. The main contents of the meeting include: first, the internal logic of international investment and the meaning of the research sustainability issues; second, the identification, assessment, and monitoring of the sustainable performance of international investment; third, practical mechanisms and policy measures to promote the sustainability of international investment.

The meeting was presided over by the director in general of Foreign Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and the director of ICSTD. Associate researcher Daying Yan of Nankai IIE, and visiting scholars of the Center for Sustainable International Investment Research of Columbia University (2016-17) were invited by the meeting to represent the academic experts of the Center for Transnationals’ Studies of Nankai University. Associate researcher Yan, requested by the meeting, addressed a speech on the practical mechanisms of achieving FDI project sustainability and improving the quality of FDI in the FDI promotion stage, the review stage, as well as the regulatory stage; on the identification and evaluation of performance issues of FDI sustainability in the macro, industrial and enterprise level during various stages. Associate researcher Yan’s opinion received highly recognized. Prof. Yan also discussed the country experiences to promote international investment in sustainability, policy implications and prospective future studies with participants.