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 Canadian economy is adjusting to the fall in commodity prices, but additional policies are needed to boost productivity, reduce financial stability risks and make future growth stronger, greener and more inclusive, according to a new OECD report.

Canada is one of the OECD economies delivering the best outcomes for its citizens, especially in regards to self-reported well-being, personal security and health status. Canada is also undertaking several programmes to foster inclusive growth – with respect to childcare benefits, gender equality and social housing.

These graphs offer a brief summary of the commodity trade situation in the country.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery is concerned by recent allegations of interference in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin that are subject to proceedings in the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. The Canadian engineering and construction group is the subject of an ongoing prosecution into allegations of the bribery of Libyan officials to obtain a Can$ 58-million contract to restore a water pipeline.

The Secretary-General, Mr. Angel Gurría, will visit The Netherlands on 13th and 14th of March 2013, to attend the 2013 International Summit on the Teaching Profession. He will also go to The Hague and hold a bilateral meeting with Mr. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Finance Minister.

The OECD Port-Cities Programme aims to identify how ports can be assets for urban development. The programme therefore assesses the impact of ports on cities and regions. It also compares policies aimed at increasing positive regional impacts of ports and limiting negative effects.

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.

In January of this year I visited the Mexican state of Tabasco– a state crossed by rivers and facing the Gulf of Mexico. The state’s population has doubled over the past 30 years and its economy relies heavily on oil and natural gas resources. It has its challenges as well: unemployment, poverty and a lack of resources.

The Netherlands has responded to new global goals and challenges by integrating its aid, trade and investment agendas, and is an innovator in using aid flows to mobilise significant additional and responsible resources from the private sector, according to a new OECD report.

As part of continuing efforts to improve the international tax framework, the OECD has released the first analysis of individual country efforts to improve dispute resolution mechanisms.

The country profile: pension eligibility ages and other qualifying conditions; the rules for calculating benefit entitlements; the treatment of early and late retirees; personal income tax and social security contributions.

Turkey is a significant and geopolitically critical economy. Its companies, like those from many other countries, operate in corruption-prone sectors and countries. In spite of this, only 10 allegations have come to the attention of Turkish authorities since foreign bribery became an offence in Turkey in 2003.

The OECD Port-Cities Programme aims to identify how ports can be assets for urban development. The programme therefore assesses the impact of ports on cities and regions. It also compares policies aimed at increasing positive regional impacts of ports and limiting negative effects.

This publication summarises three roundtable discussions on transparency and procedural fairness held during 2010 and 2011 at OECD Competition meetings.

On 17 July 2012, the OECD Council adopted a Recommendation on Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement, which together with the Guidelines, will help sensitise governments to assess their public procurement laws and practices at all levels in order to promote more effective procurement and reduce the risk of bid rigging in public tenders.

Even if efficiencies and efficiency claims have been vigorously discussed for decades, they have rarely turned out to be decisive in competition proceedings. Still, their role in competition law has recently gained greater prominence, as witnessed by a number of recent merger decisions in different jurisdictions. This publication reviews the findings from a roundtable discussion held in October 2012.

This report documents procurement regulations and practices in Mexico's State's Employees' Social Security and Social Services Institute(ISSSTE) and makes policy recommendations in key procurement areas.

An 11-month investigation by the OECD in cooperation with the Greek authorities has identified a wide range of regulations and legal provisions that undermine competition.

This report documents procurement regulations and practices in Mexico's main electricity company (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) and makes policy recommendations in key procurement areas.

Market studies provide competition authorities with an in-depth understanding of how sectors and markets work. The OECD and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office are providing support to Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama and Peru in their use of market studies as an important competition tool.

This report shows how competition and public procurement agencies have been using the 2012 OECD Recommendation on Fighting Bid Rigging to raise awareness of bid rigging risks and develop tools to detect bid rigging in public procurement.

Turkey’s manufacturing sector has expanded considerably but not efficiently and competitively enough.

Productivity growth is essential to providing sustainable increases in living standards. Malaysia has reached a development stage where growth needs to be driven more by productivity gains than the sheer accumulation of capital and labour inputs.

This report analyses procurement rules and regulations in Mexico's state-owed petroleum company (PEMEX) and makes policy recommendations to promote competition and fight bid rigging in accordance with international best practices.

This publication puts forward a research agenda that advocates the importance of market competition, effective market regulation, and competition policies for achieving inclusive growth and shared prosperity in emerging and developing economies. It is the result of a global partnership and shared commitment between the World Bank Group and the OECD.

This report documents procurement regulations and practices in Mexico's main electricity company (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) and makes policy recommendations in key procurement areas.

The Portuguese government and the OECD have worked together to assess the costs and benefits of regulations restricting competition in the transports and liberal professions sectors and to propose specific recommendations for change. Read more about the project and access the report.

Argentina’s competition authority has partnered with the OECD to step up its fight against bid rigging and boost competition for public works in accordance with OECD recommendations and good practices. This report presents the result of an analysis of Argentina's procurement of public works and provides recommendations for change.

Uruguay has signed 7 new agreements providing for the exchange of tax information, showing its willingness to implement the global standards.

The Global Forum Secretariat enters into a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Arab Emirates, confirming UAE’s commitment to the Global Forum’s work on transparency and exchange of information.

Furthering its efforts to strengthen international tax co-operation, the OECD has issued two new reports on automatic exchange and tax confidentiality. The report on automatic exchange of information describes what it is, how it works, where it stands and what challenges remain. The report on confidentiality of information exchanged examines all aspects of ensuring the protection of information exchanged for tax purposes.

On 19 October 2012, the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs released for public comment revised proposals concerning the meaning of “beneficial owner” in Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the OECD Model Tax Convention. The OECD has now published the comments received on this revised discussion draft.

All of the world’s financial centres, under the impetus of the G20, and adopting the standards developed by the OECD, made a commitment in 2009 to putting an end to tax-motivated bank secrecy. Most of the countries have kept their word but major progress must still be made, said OECD Secretary-General.

The OECD Council has approved the revision of Section E on safe harbours in Chapter IV of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines. New guidance provides opportunities for countries to relieve some compliance burdens and to provide greater certainty for cases involving smaller taxpayers or less complex transactions. It encourages the use of bilateral or multilateral safe harbours and provides sample MOUs to establish bilateral safe harbours.

OECD governments have committed to stepping up their efforts to tackle base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) by endorsing the OECD's BEPS Declaration at the Organisation’s annual Ministerial Meeting in Paris.

National tax laws have not kept pace with the globalisation of corporations and the digital economy, leaving gaps that can be exploited by multi-national corporations to artificially reduce their taxes.

OECD Secretary-General Gurría today presented to G20 Leaders ground-breaking proposals to tackle tax evasion and avoidance by both companies and individuals. The proposals establish automatic exchange of information for tax purposes as the new international standard for tax co-operation and set out the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), which was first presented to G20 Finance Ministers in Moscow in July 2013.

The OECD invites public comments on a discussion draft that includes proposed changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention dealing with the operation of ships and aircraft in international traffic.

On 15 November 2013, the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) invited public comments on a discussion draft on changes to the provisions of the OECD Model Tax Convention dealing with the operation of ships and aircraft in international traffic. The OECD has now published the comments received on that discussion draft.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has welcomed moves by more than 40 countries – reinforced by EU leaders - to commit to a detailed timetable to step up the fight against tax evasion.

The international community continues making progress toward greater cooperation to ensure effective information exchange in tax matters. The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes issued today 12 new reports that highlight action being taken by jurisdictions to implement the international standard for exchange of information on request.

The OECD Council approved yesterday the contents of the 2014 update to the OECD Model Tax Convention. The update will be incorporated in a revised version of the Model Tax Convention that will be published in the next few months.

The OECD released today its first recommendations for a co-ordinated international approach to combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises, under the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project designed to create a single set of international tax rules to end the erosion of tax bases and the artificial shifting of profits to jurisdictions to avoid paying tax.

Action 10 of the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting directs the OECD to develop transfer pricing rules to provide protection against common types of base eroding payments. A discussion draft of proposed modifications to Chapter VII of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines relating to low value-adding intra-group services was released for comment by interested parties today

The OECD has released statistics on the MAP caseloads of OECD member countries and certain Partner economies for the 2013 reporting period.

On 10-11 December, officials from fourteen developing countries discussed ways to maximise benefits from their recent commitment to enhanced engagement in the BEPS Project.

Public comments are invited on the discussion draft on the use of profit splits in the context of global value chains, released as part of the work in relation to Action 10 of the BEPS Action Plan.

On 3 November 2014, the OECD invited comments from interested parties on the discussion draft of proposed modifications to Chapter VII of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines covering low value-adding intra-group services relating to Action 10 of the BEPS Action plan.

On 16 December 2014, the OECD invited comments from interested parties on a discussion draft on the use of profit splits in the context of global value chains. This work relates to Action 10 of the BEPS Action Plan. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input, and now publishes the comments received.