Dates and location for WAIPA’s 30th World Investment Conference announced at Mipim 2026
The World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) announced its 30th World Investment Conference (WIC) will take place in Geneva from November 10-12, 2026.
The announcement took place in a press conference at Real Asset Media’s INSIGHT Stage at Mipim 2026 in Cannes on March 12 and featured Ismail Ersahin, CEO and Executive Director of WAIPA, alongside Marinos Giannopoulos, CEO of Enterprise Greece and EU Regional Director for WAIPA.
After recent iterations of the event being hosted in Sharjah (2025), Riyadh (2024) and Delhi (2023), the conference returns to Europe and most notably to WAIPA’s home base of Geneva — three decades after WAIPA was founded in the Swiss city. The 2026 edition is being held in collaboration with the Geneva Convention Bureau and WAIPA’s current presidency, the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority. Geneva’s role as a hub for multilateral institutions and international diplomacy was cited as a factor in its selection as host city, particularly at a time when global cooperation on trade and investment is under pressure.
The World Investment Conference is WAIPA’s flagship annual event and serves as a forum for discussion on investment policy, promotion strategies and international cooperation. “The World Investment Conference has been evolving over the years and has transformed into a platform where investments meet with opportunities and where IPAs meet with investors,” said Mr Ersahin in the press conference.
Organisers say this year’s event will serve both as a reflection on the evolution of investment promotion agencies over the past three decades and as a platform to discuss how global investment patterns are changing. These agencies have increasingly taken on a broader role in recent years, advising governments, supporting investors throughout the project lifecycle and helping align investment with national development priorities.
The conference will also look ahead to the future of global investment flows, as shifting supply chains and emerging industrial clusters reshape international production. Global FDI stock reached approximately $45 trillion in 2025, highlighting the scale of cross-border investment and its importance to economic development.
To watch the full press conference click below:
