Industrial residues is misplaced local resources, the best way of handling is to turn them into renewable resources. For example, the industrial residues can be used for the preparing cement raw material and can be used as concrete...

English is often said to be a confusing language - and when it comes to homophones, we know how that notion came to be!

Homophones,...

This report sets out the main analysis and recommendations of the tourism policy review of Italy and assesses the current state of tourism performance in Italy.

This study examines trends in and key features of policies and programmes used by governments to support innovation in the business sector.

The Regional Growth Core Schönefelder Kreuz and the Technical University of Applied Sciences Wildau in partnership with the OECD Local Economic and Employment Development Programme (LEED) are working on defining and collecting measurable indicators at the regional/ local level that can inform over time of transition to low-carbon economic and industrial activities.

Business spending on research and development has been hit hard by the economic crisis, with nearly all OECD countries seeing a fall in investment which could impact innovation and long-term growth, according to a new OECD report.

Can governments play a positive role in boosting their countries’ industrial sectors? This OECD Observer article investigates.

This meeting aimed to identify practical policy options for Latin American governments in the formulation of their investment promotion strategies with a specific focus on international value chains.

Latin American governments must act now to strengthen growth and development and counter these risks, according to the 2013 Latin American Economic Outlook, jointly produced by the OECD Development Centre and ECLAC.

This Investment Policy Review examines Tunisia's achievements in developing an open and transparent investment regime and its efforts to reduce restrictions on international investment.

Private investment in the food and agriculture sectors can enhance productivity, drive job creation and income growth, increase food supply and improve food security, according to panel participants. The panel also recognised the need to attract more private private investment in the food and agriculture sectors, and called on governments to design coherent policy frameworks and implement reforms to improve the investment climate.

The London Apprenticeship Campaign was launched in 2010 to boost the number of apprentices in London. It was developed as part of an ongoing policy focus to tackle long-standing skill shortfalls in the city, shortages which have been constraining employment, social opportunity and productivity.

High-growth firms (HGFs) – firms able to grow fast over a short period of time – contribute to most new jobs in advanced economies.

This policy paper provides new evidence on the link of labour market regulation, bankruptcy legislation, financial market development and R&D support policies with growth dynamics. The study goes beyond looking at differences in average growth rates as it analyses changes in the whole distribution of firms.

This paper reviews the evidence on emerging thinking and new trends in the sphere of industrial policy. Using a broad and inclusive definition of industrial policy, it proposes a new typology based on the orientation of policy and the policy domain and a framework based on growth accounting, which parallels the evolution of thinking about the rationale for industrial policy interventions.

Government, business, trade and civil society representatives came together at this panel session to discuss the first year of implementation following the 2011 Update of the Guidelines.

Access to finance remains a key challenge for small and medium-sized enterprises and a stumbling block to recovery in most countries, according to a new OECD report.

This paper examines China’s investment policy since the publication of the 2008 OECD Investment Policy Review of China and recommends that the Chinese government continue its efforts to liberalise and increase the transparency and predictability of the framework for both inward and outward FDI. OECD Working Papers on International Investment - No. 2013/1.

New trade data measured in value-added terms shows that services – such as logistics, design, and transportation - are far more important to global commerce than they appear in traditional calculations of exports and imports.

This seminar focused on overcoming challenges to private sector participation in infrastructure in Southern Africa.

To better integrate their economies into Global Value Chains, governments need a fine-tuned understanding of their dynamics and policies, and we have made considerable progress on this front. For example, we have learned that success in international markets depends as much on the capacity to import high-quality inputs as on the capacity to export: intermediate inputs account for over 2/3 of the goods and 70% of the services we trade.

The creation of innovative new firms and the development of SME innovation are strongly influenced by the extent to which localities offer environments that favour the transfer of knowledge to local business and provide the other resources required for innovative firm development, including skills, finance, advice, and supply chain partners.

As part of the OECD LEED project on university support for entrepreneurship in eastern Germany, undertaken in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Regional Development, this handbook presents highlights of results of a series of case studies and a university survey.

Costa Rica today became the 45th country to adhere to an OECD international investment instrument, designed to help the country attract more and better foreign investment and promote responsible business conduct.

This paper highlights the growth in support for financial instruments for seed and early-stage firms across OECD countries. These instruments include grants, loans and guarantee schemes, tax incentives and equity funds. This increased support is linked to the recent financial crisis and the growing concern about young firms’ access to finance.

This Investment Policy Review examines Mozambique's achievements in developing an open and transparent investment regime and its efforts to reduce restrictions on international investment.

18 November 2013 - Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week 2013 opened in Bangkok today with a regional conference on responsible business practices jointly organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Jointly organised by the OECD and ESCAP, this conference focused on the role of governments in supporting and facilitating more sustainable and inclusive business practices in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Malaysian government, in partnership with the OECD and ASEAN, has undertaken a review of its investment policies as part of an active programme of investment policy reforms to help revive both foreign and domestic investment.

The productivity compendium provides data and methodological notes and describes the measurement challenges and the data choices that were made, as well as the remaining measurement problems.

This Investment Policy Review examines Tanzania's achievements in developing an open and transparent investment regime and its efforts to reduce restrictions on international investment.

This workshop sought to address whether the data we are using to measure and analyse globalisation is up to the task, and if it isn’t, what could be done.

The European Commission has proposed an integrated EU approach to stop profits from trading minerals being used to fund armed conflicts. The package of measures aims to make it more difficult for armed groups in conflict-affected and high-risk areas to finance their activities through the mining of and trade in minerals.

This workshop focused on how to comply with international regulations on conflict-free gold supply chains and how to make the most of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas.

Building on concrete examples, this book explores emerging topics in innovation policy for more inclusive and sustainable growth.

The OECD and the EC are inviting individual teachers and schools to submit case studies about their strategies, practices and achievements in promoting entrepreneurship in schools and VET. Participation in the Call requires a submission of an abstract of 1-2 pages by email to Joseph.Tixier@oecd.org indicating in the subject line "Entrepreneurship360- Call for case studies". Deadline for submission is 30 April 2014.

Participants at the forum adopted a communiqué calling for companies to confront challenges they encounter openly and transparently by publicly reporting on due diligence in accordance with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas

The Southeast Asian region has the potential to attract significant amounts of international investment in the coming years. To help ASEAN countries address the challenges that arise from an increased openness to investment, this report analyses the region's investment climate and suggests ways to bring about a greater convergence of both policies and outcomes for the countries involved.

Este folleto contiene información esencial sobre las Líneas Directrices de la OCDE para empresas multinacionales, que en la actualidad constituyen las recomendaciones más exhaustivas aprobadas por los gobiernos sobre la conducta responsable de las empresas.

This Global Forum plays an important role as the tool for on-going dialogue on responsible business conduct. I am pleased to announce that today, Ministers from over 20 countries are coming together to discuss how to integrate responsibility considerations throughout government policies. Their work will contribute to protect internationally recognised fundamental rights and to ensure good governance, fair regulations, and transparency.

This paper aims to provide an introduction to and overview of the social investment market for policy makers. Social investment is the provision of finance to organisations with the explicit expectation of a social, as well as financial, return. It has become increasingly relevant in today’s economic environment as social challenges have mounted while public funds in many countries are under pressure.

While there has been a recent revival of interest in industrial policy around the world, systematic evidence of efficacy is relatively scarce. This report considers recent evidence from the evaluation of industrial policy. It focuses on three specific policy areas: support for R&D, capital market interventions (with a focus on risk capital), and public procurement for innovation.

The Policy Framework for Investment in Agriculture is a flexible tool which helps governments evaluate their investment policies in the ten areas essential to creating an attractive environment for investors and in enhancing the development benefits of agricultural investment.

Financing conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain a pressing concern in many countries, according to a new OECD report.

This conference addressed key questions on investment in infrastructure and transport in Latin America and the Caribbean. It brought together policymakers, international experts and other interested stakeholders to discuss concrete policy recommendations to maximise the opportunities and address the challenges in the region.

This seminar investigated how changes made in key policy areas at national, regional and international levels can help generate more and better private investment in Africa’s infrastructure.

Global Value Chains (GVCs) are a dominant feature of the world economy that impact growth, jobs and development, but numerous challenges remain to ensure that all countries and all firms have the opportunity to participate and benefit.

This self-assessment report looks at South Africa's investment regime in the light of the OECD Codes of Liberalisation and the principle of National Treatment.

A series of short reports aimed at policy makers examine issues and policies instruments related to inclusive entrepreneurs policy. The key message of these briefs is that there is under-exploited potential among entrepreneurs from non-mainstream groups and that there are many examples of specially tailored policies that are successful in increasing participation that can serve as models for others.

Organised by the OECD Development Centre in partnership with the African Union, the 2014 Africa Forum will focus on the pan-African agenda of economic and social transformation.