Academy of International Business (AIB) Joins World Investment for Development Alliance (WIDA)

Since the mid-1980s, globalization has contributed to lifting more than one billion people out of grinding poverty and perhaps two billion into a middle-class consumer status. The Academy of International Business (AIB) is the premier worldwide association of more than 3,000 academics and researchers covering global business topics. The role of foreign direct investment (FDI) and cross-border trade in transforming societies and economies lie at the heart of the AIB’s purview and mission.

But a majority of humanity is still in what may be described as developing countries. Moreover, despite great progress over the past 40 years, more than 700 million souls are still living in abject poverty (defined by the World Bank as having an income of less than $1.90 per person per day). In addition, not all FDI or trade contributes to sustainable growth in terms of the environment, climate change, and social progress – although most studies show that multinationals are (generally, with some exceptions) the transmitters and transferors of best practices in labor, ethics, pollution, governance, sustainability, and technology standards.

The AIB is a founding member of the World Investment for Development Alliance (WIDA), formally launched at the Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum in May 2022. The WIDA is a coalition of investment promotion agencies of many nations, the OECD, UNCTAD, and other multilateral organizations dedicated to fostering FDI and trade into channels most conducive to sustainable development in emerging nations.

The accompanying WIDA launch video shown at Davos gives a flavor of the objectives of WIDA and several of its alliance partners. Also see the earlier video from UNCTAD.

Video Covering the Launch of WIDA

The AIB portion begins at time 2:39 minutes.

Link to Earlier Video from UNCTAD:

Towards the establishment of the World Investment for Development Alliance (WIF 2021)

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Farok J. Contractor, distinguished professor of management and global business at Rutgers Business School, assumed the role of president of the Academy of International Business (AIB) on August 1, 2021. The AIB is an association of 3,500 members worldwide, mainly academics and a few strategists studying global business, with 13 chapters in 89 countries in seven regions around the globe.

Established in 1959, AIB is a leading association of international business scholars and specialists. It publishes the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS), the premier scholarly journal in the field of international business.

Learn more about Prof. Contractor’s academic career and Rutgers Business School’s department of management and global business.