OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría blogs about international investment treaties at a time when they are increasingly in the spotlight.

After a comprehensive review in October 2012, the OECD Working Group on Bribery asked France, through a series of concrete recommendations, to intensify its actions to fight the bribery of foreign public officials and undertake important reforms.

Brazil must build on the positive momentum started with its new Corporate Liability Law and its first indictments in one foreign bribery case to investigate and prosecute more proactively foreign bribery.

This public consultation was held to gather interested stakeholders' comments on the draft chapters of the Policy Framework for Investment currently being updated. The consultation ran until 31 December 2014.

Public financial institutions (PFIs) are well-positioned to act as a key leverage point for governments’ efforts to mobilise private investment in low-carbon projects and infrastructure. This study identifies the tools, instruments and approaches used by five PFIs to directly support and scale-up domestic private sector investment in sustainable transport, energy-efficiency and renewable energy in OECD countries.

Global FDI flows collapsed with the global financial crisis in 2008 and remain 40% below pre-crisis levels. A major reason for this is the EU. While FDI flows in the rest of the world recovered by 2010, the EU continues to struggle due to structural factors that are undermining the quality of the EU’s investment environment. The paper analyses why and puts forward policy options. It is part of the Investment Insights series.

Global FDI flows for 2014 have stalled at levels substantially below the peak levels reached before the financial crisis and ensuing global recession that began in 2008 according to preliminary estimates in the December 2014 issue of FDI in Figures.

This conference showcased ASEAN’s regional investment integration achievements and efforts. Practitioners highlighted policy reforms at the national and regional levels and considered practical measures to enhance integration. Ways to successfully attract investment that will strengthen ASEAN supply chains were identified.

“Why do financial institutions and investors see so little risk, while companies investing in the real economy see so much risk?” This is perhaps the most important question facing policy makers today. This paper sets out some of the possible hypotheses for lack of investment in the world economy. It uses data drawn from 10 000 global companies in 75 advanced and emerging countries.

New approaches are needed for addressing social and economic challenges, including new models of public and private partnership which can fund, deliver and scale innovative solutions from the ground up.

One traditional cylinder of the global growth engine has been specifically weak: this is investment, the second of the 3 “I”s of the Turkish Presidency’s triptych, and in particular cross-border investment.

This online public consultation was held to gather interested stakeholders' comments on the draft Policy Framework for Investment currently being updated. The consultation ran until 25 February 2015.

Jointly organised by the Turkish Presidency of the G20 and the OECD, participants discussed cutting-edge compliance challenges faced by companies in their day-to-day operations and innovative solutions to address these risks.

Paris, 16 March 2015: Organised by the OECD-hosted Freedom of Investment Roundtable, this conference assessed opportunities and challenges associated with investment treaties and how the system can be improved.

Widespread corruption continues to be a major challenge for Kyrgyzstan’s development, despite efforts to streamline its anti-corruption policy and strengthen the institutional framework since 2012.

This public consultation is being held to gather comments on the draft OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement in the Extractives Sector which provides practical guidance to mining, oil and gas enterprises in addressing the challenges related to stakeholder engagement. The deadline for comment is 5 June 2015.

This report responds to a request from the G20 that the IMF and OECD assess whether further work is needed on their respective approaches to measures which are both macro-prudential and capital flow measures, taking into account their individual mandates. The report was transmitted to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at their meeting on 16-17 April 2015 in Washington D.C.

The Netherlands last chaired the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in 1991, a year when advanced economies accounted for nearly two thirds of global GDP and almost two billion people were living in extreme poverty. The world looks very different today. Emerging markets now account for more than half of global GDP and the number of people living in extreme poverty is down to one billion.

This year’s OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, which we are honoured to chair, will address the issue of investment. The timing could not be better. Growth prospects have improved, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Investment has been hit especially hard since the crisis started and has yet to recover.

With a focus on the Asia-Pacific region, this conference addressed what the Sustainable Development Goals will mean for business and how business sustainability strategies can be aligned to support their implementation.

The OECD hosted a workshop on green investment banks on 20 May 2015. It built upon discussions of green banks at the OECD Green Investment Financing Fora (May 2015 and June 2014) and continued international dialogue on the experiences of green banks. The workshop welcomed 9 different green banks, public financial institutions, NGOs, the private sector and over 20 countries interested in the green bank model.

Singapore, 28 May 2015: This roundtable will focus on key themes related to G20 work, including how policy makers and investors can facilitate private sector infrastructure financing, the development of infrastructure as an asset class, and issues relating to the regulation of long-term investment.

Investments are a precondition of future sustainable growth. However, investments are not just about competitiveness, but about maintaining our quality of life. As Germany currently shows, good economic numbers are a necessary, but far from sufficient, precondition of strong investment activity. On the one hand, we expect economic output to rise by an annual average of 1.8% in real terms in both 2015 and 2016.

The world economy desperately needs more productive investment: to create jobs, to increase productivity and to meet critical global goals like combating climate change. But instead of more productive investment, we are getting rising stock markets. Sadly too many policymakers and journalists don’t know the difference.

OECD Ministers have endorsed updated guidelines to help national governments and regional groups create the right conditions to attract domestic and foreign investment.

The OECD’s Annual Meeting at Ministerial Level reinforced member governments’ support across a broad range of key OECD work.

Most of us would agree that clean energy is a worthwhile goal, and the world has invested more than $2 trillion on renewable-energy plants in the past decade. But are we doing enough?

Protectionism and local content requirements are holding back investment in clean energy and thus undermining the fight against climate change. This Investment Insights puts forward policy options for mobilising investment in clean energy and restoring order and confidence in international markets.

Adequate infrastructure is necessary for sustainable economic and social development. However investment in infrastructure in most developing and emerging economies needs to be substantially increased. This paper draws on 22 OECD Investment Policy Reviews undertaken in such economies and identifies policy options to enhance the enabling environment for infrastructure investment.

In a historic visit by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to the OECD in Paris, the People’s Republic of China today decided to enhance longstanding collaboration with the OECD and to join the OECD Development Centre.

Addis Ababa - Part of the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development, this event explored strategies to leverage Africa’s pension funds and other sources of private financing to develop Africa’s infrastructure. Ways to improve the investment climate in Africa using the recently updated Policy Framework for Investment were also be addressed.

There is strength in unity but when it comes to regional co-operation to enhance development, this lesson can be lost. This blog post examines how regions such as the Southern African Community for Development (SADC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) use the Policy Framework for Investment to enhance their investment policies and to attract investment that works for the development of the region as a whole.

This brochure explains the major changes introduced in the OECD’s 4th Benchmark Definition of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which saw widespread implementation in 2014, and assesses the impact on FDI statistics.

In 2014, many countries implemented the latest international guidelines for compiling FDI statistics. The new standards have resulted in significant changes in FDI statistics, including new measures of FDI at the global level.

The Policy Framework for Investment (PFI) is a comprehensive and systematic tool for improving investment conditions. The pocket edition of the PFI contains the full text of the 2015 update minus the supplemental questions and reference lists. Find the integral text and other tools online at www.oecd.org/investment/pfi.htm

24 September 2015 - At the 2015 Global Investigations Review awards, the OECD collected the prize for the "most important investigations development" category. The OECD was given the award in recognition of its tireless work promoting foreign bribery enforcement around the world.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría today called on all countries to fully engage with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and said advanced and emerging economies had a particular responsibility to translate the global goals into national policy and to support developing countries in doing the same.

The global recovery is still hesitant and unemployment at record highs, despite ample liquidity in financial markets. OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría will open the 10th Global Forum on International Investment with Minister of Economy, Turkey, Nihat Zeybekci, to address policy options for sparking an investment comeback.

Mounting fears of another slowdown in the global economy call for bolder policy responses. Trade and investment are a case in point. The latest WTO forecasts suggest 2015 will be the fourth year running that global trade volumes grow less than 3%, barely at—or below—the rate of GDP growth. Before

COPARMEX, COMCE, BIAC, and the OECD are jointly hosting a one-day high-level conference in Mexico City on October 15 2015 to communicate to the government and business community how the evidence-based work on global value chains and trade in services matters for trade policy in Mexico and the Latin American region.

The workshop will discuss the first results of the OECD Secretariat’s work on integrating FDI statistics into the analysis of Global Value Chains (OECD-WTO Trade in Value Added Initiative) to better account for foreign ownership.

Let’s start with a quiz. Which country is the second biggest direct investor in China? Who are the largest investors in India and Russia? You probably won’t believe it, but the answers are

Latvia has improved its laws since acceding to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention in 2014. Yet serious personnel issues until recently as well as negative government commentary concerning KNAB, Latvia’s anti-corruption law enforcement agency, have cast doubts over its capacity to enforce those laws.

The OECD has produced assessments of country-specific investment strategies in G20 countries in order to improve the investment ecosystem, foster efficient infrastructure investment and support financing opportunities for SMEs. This booklet reproduces the highlights of these assessments which have been transmitted to G20 leaders for consideration at their Summit in November 2015..

Paris, 19-20 November 2015: Bringing together senior executives representing the world’s largest institutional investors, senior policy makers and regulators, debates focused on issues affecting long-term investment, including: asset allocation concepts; regulation; governance; energy and natural resources; and, brownfield and greenfield infrastructure.

International Anti-Corruption Day provides us all with a unique opportunity to reflect on the progress we have made over the past year in the global fight against corruption, but also to think about the work that remains to be done in the years ahead.

Both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the OECD New Approaches to Economic Challenges explicitly recognise that trade and investment are not goals in themselves, but are a means to an end. That desired end is stronger and more inclusive growth, better jobs for more people, and improved societal well-being.

Most investment treaties do not expressly address joint interpretations and thus leave the issue to more general rules. This paper addresses the general legal framework applicable to joint agreements by treaty parties about the interpretation of treaties. It outlines key concepts and distinctions, and considers effects on third parties.

This update report by the IMF and the OECD was delivered to G20 in February 2016.

The OECD Working Group on Bribery has serious concerns regarding Belgium’s limited efforts to comply with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.