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.

Participants in this multi-stakeholder meeting launched the Gold Implementation programme and advanced implementation of due diligence in the 3Ts supply chain to ensure that companies avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral or metal purchasing decisions and practices.

The recent scandal over the use of horsemeat in readymade meals that has shaken the entire European continent has revealed not only the complexity and opacity of our food supply chain, but also–and above all–the shortcomings of European food law.

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.

Preliminary estimates in the July edition of FDI in Figures show that Russia recorded its highest-ever level of FDI outflows, making the country the second largest investor worldwide in the first quarter of 2013.

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.

Many areas like Manisa suffer from a local lack of sophisticated demand in terms of expressed SME requirements. This leaves considerable scope for demand and supply side initiatives set within KOSGEB’s framework that will assist in shaping intervention and promoting a coherent approach to SME development.

Global value chains (GVCs) have become a dominant feature of world trade and investment, offering new prospects for growth, development and jobs, according to a new joint report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Most OECD governments use tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest in research and development (R&D) to boost innovation and drive economic growth. Others, like China, India and South Africa, are doing the same. But reforming these incentives would give countries a better return on their investment and support young innovative firms that play a crucial role in job creation, according to a new OECD report.

Finding new sources of growth right now is tough. And in a time of rising inequality, to do so equitably and fairly is even tougher. Innovation can help, but with budgets stretched to the limit how can governments boost innovation in their economies?

Deputy Minister of National Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Khin San Yee, presented her country’s ambitious efforts to improve the investment climate at meetings of the OECD Investment Committee and Advisory Group on Investment and Development from 15-17 October 2013 in Paris.

Young firms play a crucial role in job creation but have missed out on many of the benefits of structural reforms of the past decade in OECD countries.

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.

Global investment activity fell by nearly a third in the second quarter of 2013, after two consecutive quarters of increases, according to preliminary estimates in the October 2013 issue of FDI in Figures.

Participants in this multi-stakeholder meeting reviewed and discussed the implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and in the 3Ts supply chain to ensure that companies avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral or metal purchasing decisions and practices.

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 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.

The 2013 Annual Report describes the activities undertaken to promote the observance of the Guidelines during the implementation cycle of June 2012-June 2013. This includes the launch of the Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), the establishment of a Working Party on RBC, and the elaboration of a robust multi-stakeholder proactive agenda to promote the observance of the principles and standards found in the Guidelines.

The last decade has seen considerable policy attention to the social economy and its contribution to employment, in particular as regards the inclusion and empowerment of vulnerable workers and the provision of appropriate working conditions.

Despite a strong performance in Q3, global FDI flows are set to fall 6% in 2013, according to the latest issue of FDI in Figures. Headwinds discouraging more international investment include persistent Eurozone sluggishness, slowing growth in China, and volatility in emerging markets.

This conference focused on recent reforms undertaken by the government to improve the investment climate in Myanmar, and the ways that the international community can help ensure that renewed investor interest contributes to sustainable and inclusive development. It featured a discussion of the detailed finding of the recently released OECD Investment Policy Review of Myanmar.

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.

Global FDI flows increased by only 4.5% in 2013 and international mergers and acquisitions, an important component of FDI, were down sharply in the first quarter of 2014 according to preliminary estimates in the April 2014 issue of FDI in Figures.

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.

The OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development is pleased to invite you to a seminar to present and discuss the CAF 2013 Report: Entrepreneurship and Development, featuring CAF Director Pablo Sanguinetti, Head of Research.

The report takes a comparative look at ADB and OECD experiences, and aims to identify promising policy solutions for creating an SME base that is resilient to crisis, from a viewpoint of access to finance, and which can help drive growth and development.

This meeting provided the opportunity to review and discuss implementation of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance and the ICGLR Regional Certification Mechanism. Issues pertinent to the tin, tantalum and tungsten (3Ts) and gold supply chains were addressed during the three-day forum.

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

Young SMEs (firms no more than five years old) have been the most dynamic job creators over most of the past decade and across the 18 countries analysed in the OECD DynEmp project.

Available in several languages, this booklet provides basic information about the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the most comprehensive set of government-backed recommendations on responsible business conduct in existence today. Adhering governments aim to encourage the positive contributions MNEs can make to sustainable development and to minimise the difficulties to which their various operations may give rise.

Statement from Risaburo Nezu, Chairman of the OECD Steel Committee, Paris, 6 June 2014

This statement was adopted by National Contact Points on 25 June 2014 during their 15th Meeting.

This survey was presented at the Informal ministerial meeting on responsible business conduct held in Paris on 26 June 2014.

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.

This publication reports on trends in the steelmaking capacity of economies that are not members of the OECD. It examines existing capacity and investments that will lead to changes by 2014, with detailed tables on equipment, starting dates of planned projects, and works ownership.

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.