Reaffirming our business commitments for youth
 

Last week, our Communications Coordinator Jack Bowerman attended the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting side-event The Future Youth Want: Better Policies for the Next Generation.
 
The OECD Youthwise council met in person for the first time at the OECD Chateau in Paris, alongside other youth organizations and OECD officials, to work together in contributing to a vision for the future of youth The Future Youth Want: Elements of a Youth Manifesto, which was then delivered by Youthwise members at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.
 

Thought-starter on ESG considerations in business decisions
 

ESG (environmental, social, and governance) considerations are gaining traction among investors, policymakers, and other stakeholders, significantly impacting corporate practices around the world.
 
Business at OECD Secretariat holds ESG issues high on the agenda, and today we are pleased to announce the release of our thought starter on ESG considerations in business decisions, which greatly benefitted from the expertise and knowledge of our members. It identifies common challenges in regards to the current ESG discussions and outlines some key considerations on the role that the OECD can play in helping governments address them effectively. We hope that this thought-starter will serve as a point of departure for our members to explore tangible business asks on more specific topics around ESG that are of interest and relevance to each committee.

 

Contact: Hideaki Ozu

OECD to launch a set of new policy tools for sustainable investment

 
Over the last year, our Investment and Responsible Business Conduct Committee has contributed business experiences to the development of a new package of OECD work on the qualities of foreign direct investment (FDI Qualities) including a set of indicators and a dedicated toolkit supporting policymakers in attracting investment that contributes to low carbon, gender equality, skills development, and productivity objectives. This toolkit, alongside additional deliverables, was launched at a high-level event on “Strengthening Sustainable Investment” on the side-lines of the Ministerial Council Meeting. We have always underlined the potential of the FDI Qualities project while stressing the need for balanced application as well as sound investment safeguards in the context of an increasingly challenging investment environment. At the meeting, we were represented by our Chairman Rick Johnston, who spoke alongside a range of high-level speakers, including the OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann.

Contact: Ina Sandler

Business contributes to update of the G20/OECD Corporate Governance Principles
 

On 7 June, business representatives from around the globe participated in a consultation with the OECD Corporate Governance Committee to highlight the business recommendations for the revisions of the G20/OECD Corporate Governance Principles. Our Corporate Governance Committee Chair Dan Konigsburg pointed to the need for ambitious revisions to guide global business in responding to the multiple crises occurring at the same time. Our Committee Vice Chair Mateja Milič offered concrete business recommendations on the key issues such as climate change, institutional investors and stewardship, and the role of board-level committees, among others.
 
The following day, on 8 June, we participated in the High-Level Roundtable on Climate Change and Corporate Governance, where Dan Konigsburg underscored the importance of the strong commitment from the board, Chairs, CEOs, and institutional investors, together with tangible suggestions for the private sector to address climate change effectively. The recording of the Roundtable and the OECD’s report “Climate Change and Corporate Governance”, released in conjunction with the Roundtable, is available here.
 

Contact: Hideaki Ozu and Hiroki Ozu

Amplifying the priorities of our National Member Organizations

 
Last week, our Policy Manager Rokas Morkūnas met with Jūratė Balytovienė, Deputy Director, Foreign Trade and EU affairs department, from the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists. The organization, our Lithuanian member,  brings together all major Lithuanian industry actors, which together represent 46% of Lithuanian GDP. They discussed ways in which Lithuanian business representatives can shape OECD strategic and policy efforts through Business at OECD.
 
Together, they also addressed priorities that rank highly on our agenda, including on trade and agriculture, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine, China trade distortive measures, investment, and employment among others. We will continue working closely with Lithuanian business as part of our ongoing work in representing the global private sector voice at the OECD.

 

Contact: Rokas Morkūnas

OECD Economic Outlook warns against the impact of the war in Ukraine
 

On 8 June, the OECD released its Economic Outlook where it predicts that the world economic growth will slow down to 3% in 2022, down from the December projection of 4.5%. The report points to three major issues: the impact of the war in Ukraine; intensifying inflationary pressure; and the cost of living crisis that may lead to significant consequences for the most vulnerable. The findings in the OECD Economic Outlook are largely in line with our own 2022 Business Barometer, where our members expressed concerns over the economic impact of the war, as well as the surging inflation, and the effect of supply chain disruptions.
 
The OECD advises a raft of measures to turn around the trajectory, such as adjustment of monetary and fiscal policy to address these extraordinary circumstances as well as investment in green energy to ensure energy security in a sustainable manner. We also urge governments to step up policy reform, focusing on digital transition and infrastructure, human capital and public infrastructure, and to demonstrate strong political will and leadership.

 

Contact: Jacobo Ramos Folch

Seeking avenues for better preparedness and competitiveness of our health and life sciences sectors
 

On June 1, our High-level Roundtable on Leveraging Private Investment in Health and Life Sciences provided a stage for the launch of a novel report on ‘Attracting Life Science Investments in Europe’. The report developed as an initiative of the Biomedical Alliance in Europe, EuropaBio, and Johnson & Johnson provides a set of indicators to assess countries’ enabling policy environment and benchmarks the EU against the US and China. The conversation with industry and OECD experts, including our Health Committee Vice-Chair Olga Mironenko Stampfer, underlined the critical role of cooperation – between policymakers and industry as well as between researchers and private companies in order to sustain the innovation pipeline and support often risky investments in new technologies, which are critical to addressing the pressing health challenges ahead of us.

Contact: Ali Karami Ruiz and Ina Sandler

Business participation in the Fourth Ministerial Summit on Productivity of the OECD Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Program
 

Next week on 23-24 June in Brasilia, Brazil, business will participate in the Fourth Ministerial Summit on Productivity of the OECD Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Program.  The Ministerial Summit, jointly organised between the OECD and the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will gather senior officials from OECD and LAC countries, international organizations, and representatives from both the private sector and civil society, around the theme 'Towards a Productive, Human-centred and Sustainable Integration in the World Economy' and will examine strategies and actions to achieve it.
 
We are pleased to share with you the invitation to participate in-person or remotely in the opening session of the Ministerial Summit  taking place on 23 June at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasília, Brazil between 09:00am - 12:30pm Brasilia time and 14:00pm - 17:30pm Paris time. Confirmed speakers include OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann, Brazilian Secretary-General of Foreign Relations Fernando Simas Magalhães, and Brazilian Minister of Economy Pablo Guedes.
 

We invite you to visit the Ministerial Website for more information about the event.

Contact: Hideaki Ozu

Upcoming: 2022 Annual Conference of the OECD Global Forum on Productivity

Following our participation in the OECD’s work on Global Forum on Productivity last year, where a group of interested OECD member states, non-member countries, and international organizations participate, we will participate in the 2022 Annual Conference to provide the private sector’s views in the high-level panel discussion on “Reorganising production for the post-Covid digital era” on 8 July.

Increasing productivity has been one of the main issues for business even before the Covid-19 pandemic, and we have continuously engaged with the OECD on this important topic. We will continue to bring to the table various tangible examples of best practices from business in pursuit of productivity.
 
The Forum will be held in a hybrid format, on 7-8 July 2022. If you are interested, please register through the link here.
 

Contact: Hideaki Ozu