16 February 2018 - OECD and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched a pilot project in Paris today to kick-start the practical application of the OECD-FAO Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains with 30 leading enterprises.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly turning to alternative sources of financing, while new bank lending is declining in a number of countries. Many SMEs remain over-reliant on bank credit, however, and the take-up of instruments other than straight debt varies greatly from one country to another, according to a new OECD report.

22-23 February 2018 (Mexico City): The Ministerial Conference on SMEs will offer a crucial platform for addressing how governments can provide SMEs with the right conditions to maximise their contributions to productivity growth and social inclusion.

The OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría called on the governments of steel-producing economies to address the root causes of today’s steel crisis through multilateral approaches, and in particular through the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity.

Rapid growth in free trade zones – where economic activity is driven by reduced taxes and customs controls, light regulation and limited oversight – is unintentionally fostering growth in counterfeit goods trafficking, according to a new report by the OECD and the EU’s Intellectual Property Office.

The digital transformation has positive impacts on productivity for many firms, but has not yet translated into stronger productivity growth at the economy-wide level. This background report for the March 2018 G7 Innovation Ministers' meeting focuses on the impacts of digital transformation on jobs and productivity.

29/03/2018 - The OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct is seeking candidates for a new Chairs to assist in implementing and promoting the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

L’OCDE a mis au point un cadre pour l’évaluation de la qualité des statistiques macroéconomiquesqui se concentre sur sept dimensions de la qualité : la pertinence, la précision, la crédibilité, l’actualité, l’accessibilité, l’interprétabilité et la cohérence. Le présent rapport utilise ce cadre pour évaluer les statistiques d’IDI du Maroc.

Ministers from OECD and developing economies have committed to step up their efforts to promote responsible business conduct by companies in order to drive more inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

Governments adhering to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are required to set up a National Contact Point (NCP) that functions in a visible, accessible, transparent and accountable manner. This report contains a peer review of the Chilean NCP, mapping its strengths and accomplishments and also identifying opportunities for improvement.

Governments adhering to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are required to set up a National Contact Point that functions in a visible, accessible, transparent and accountable manner. This report contains a peer review of the French NCP, mapping its strengths and accomplishments and also identifying opportunities for improvement.

Governments adhering to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are required to set up a National Contact Point (NCP) that functions in a visible, accessible, transparent and accountable manner. This report contains a peer review of the German NCP, mapping its strengths and accomplishments and also identifying opportunities for improvement.

ASEAN countries have made progress in SME policies – especially on GVC integration, business development and e-commerce – but future productivity growth will depend on continued reforms, says new joint OECD-ERIA-ASEAN report

A new OECD report, the 2018 Business and Finance Outlook, highlights a number of major risks having the potential to disrupt global economic growth. It notes that the gradual normalisation of monetary policy in an environment of growing debt will be a major test of whether the Basel III regulatory reforms have achieved their goal of ensuring safety and soundness in the financial system.

A steady economic expansion in Indonesia is boosting living standards, curbing poverty and offering millions of people greater access to public services.

The world’s consumption of raw materials is set to nearly double by 2060 as the global economy expands and living standards rise, placing twice the pressure on the environment that we are seeing today, according to a new OECD report.

Business and government should work more closely together to reduce inequality and foster inclusive growth. To help achieve this, at the Paris Peace Forum, Gabriela Ramos, OECD Chief of Staff, G7/G20 Sherpa and leader of the OECD’s Inclusive Growth Initiative, and Emmanuel Faber, Chairman & CEO of Danone, launched the Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) Platform.

70 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, our recognition of the “inherent dignity of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world” has further strengthened the alignment between responsible business conduct and human rights.

This joint OECD-UNIDO report identifies investment and related policies to enhance linkages between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia and multinational enterprises (MNEs) and their impacts on SME outcomes in Southeast Asia.

This report builds on national reviews of seven countries in Southeast Asia. It looks at common challenges across the region and at the interplay between regional initiatives and national reforms.

This paper sheds light on their potential costs in terms of foregone investments. Applying an augmented gravity model, covering 60 advanced and emerging countries over the period 1997–2016, it estimates the elasticity of bilateral FDI positions and cross-border M&A activity to FDI restrictions as measured by the OECD FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index.

This paper provides a first assessment of the degree to which public research contributes to innovative entrepreneurship, using data on start-ups and venture capital.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been a significant driver of employment growth in recent years, mainly through the creation of new firms, including in high-growth sectors such as information and communication technologies (ICT).

The annual reports on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises provide an account of the actions the adhering governments have taken over the previous 12 months to enhance the contribution of the guidelines to the improved functioning of the global economy.

This report brings together data on patents, trademarks and scientific publications of the world’s top corporate R&D investors to shed light on the role of these key players in shaping the future of technologies, artificial intelligence in particular.

This report provides an inventory of existing practices among IPAs in eight southern Mediterranean (MED) economies: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, and Tunisia. Each MED country has one national IPA with the exception of Tunisia, where three agencies have investment promotion function

Promoting responsible business conduct in the financial sector is vital to building a sustainable global economy. Although the Guidelines’ due diligence recommendations can help financial institutions, the inherent complexities in the sector create challenges. This paper highlights key considerations for institutional investors in carrying out due diligence that will help to identify and respond to environmental and social risks.

G20 Leaders are firmly committed to open trade and investment and to resisting protectionism in all its forms. They have mandated WTO, OECD and UNCTAD – the leading international organisations in the area of international trade and investment policies – to monitor policy developments and report publicly on these commitments.

The FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index (FDI Index) measures statutory restrictions on foreign direct investment in 68 countries, including all OECD and G20 countries, and covers 22 sectors.

Adopted in 2017, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector establishes a common understanding of due diligence in the sector to help companies meet the due diligence expectations laid out in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Postponed until further notice - The 6th annual OECD Investment Treaty Conference will explore how governments are integrating policies relating to business responsibilities into their trade and investment treaties, and potential policy options.

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises recommend that enterprises conduct due diligence in order to identify, prevent or mitigate and account for how actual and potential adverse impacts are addressed. This Due Diligence Guidance provides practical support to enterprises by providing plain language explanations of due diligence recommendations and associated provisions.

Recent seizures of fake medical supplies being marketed as protection against Covid-19 underscore the need to address a growing international trade in counterfeit pharmaceuticals that is costing billions of euros a year and putting lives at risk, according to the OECD and the EU’s Intellectual Property Office.

19 May 2020: The 2020 Global Forum will be held virtually and in two parts. The first part on 19 May 2020 will focus on how governments and businesses can use an responsible business conduct approach to address the COVID-19 crisis and build more resilient supply chains.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2011.

An overview of the long-term care situation in Hungary is available here.

Korea tops a new OECD PISA survey that tests how 15-year olds use computers and the Internet to learn. The next best performers were New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Hong-Kong China and Iceland.

This note is taken from Chapter 2 of Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2012.

Swift action is needed to stabilise the Hungarian economy and put growth on a sound footing for a durable recovery, according to the latest Economic Survey of Hungary. Strengthening the credibility and predictability of domestic policies and undertaking much-needed fiscal consolidation will be key.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría welcomed today Hungary’s steps to strengthen international tax co-operation after it became the 61st signatory to the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.

Biographical note of Hungary's Permanent Representative to the OECD.

This publication highlights new evidence on policies to support job creation, bringing together the latest research on labour market, entrepreneurship and local economic development policy to help governments support job creation in the recovery. It also includes a set of country pages featuring, among other things, new data on skills supply and demand at the level of smaller OECD regions (TL3).

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes published today 9 new peer review reports, including a Phase 1 Supplementary Report for Switzerland, demonstrating continuing progress toward implementation of the international standard for exchange of information on request.

Water resources allocation determines who is able to use water resources, how, when and where. Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform.

The Secretary-General presented the 2016 OECD Economic Survey of Hungary, commemorated the 20th anniversary of Hungary's accession to the OECD and met with Hungarian President János Áder and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The Hungarian economy has expanded strongly in recent years, helped by robust exports and firm domestic demand. But incomes are among the lowest in the OECD and structural reforms will be needed to sustain growth over the medium term, strengthen business investment and better match skills to labour market needs, according to a new OECD report.

A magyar gazdaság a jelentős exportnak és az erőteljes hazai keresletnek köszönhetően számottevően bővült az elmúlt években.

In Hungary, young people want to have bigger families, but concerns over issues like housing and striking a work-life balance appear to be obstacles. In response, the government has introduced a range of family-friendly policies–a vital step in helping families fulfil their dreams and in meeting the challenge of a rapidly ageing population.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Gabon, Hungary, Indonesia, Lithuania, Malta, Mauritius and the Russian Federation have now signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement for Country-by-Country Reporting (CbC MCAA), bringing the total number of signatories to 57. Lithuania and Hungary joined the Agreement in October and December 2016 respectively.

This note presents selected country highlights from the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2017 with a specific focus on digital trends among all themes covered.