Record fall in GDP; Economy; Gender learning; Other news; Soundbites; Plus ça change...

Crisis bites deeper  ; Economy; Jobs opportunity ; Green teens ?; Tax information-exchange agreements; Freedom of Investment initiative; Fighting Bid Rigging in Public Procurement ; Development aid; Soundbites; Plus ça change...

Record fall in GDP; Crisis response; Social urgency; Public trust?; Economy; Korea’s economy; Turkey’s environment; Fraud; Ireland’s anti-corruption laws; Israel joins Anti-Bribery convention; India backs export credit pledge; Tax evasion; IT difficulties; IT difficulties; Soundbites; Plus ça change…

UK warned on corruption; Gender gap persists; Tax progress mixed; Economy; News shorts (healthcare, pollution, education, migration); Soundbites; Plus ça change…

We welcome and support the adoption of the systemic rescue plan announced by the US government on 19-20 September , which will contribute to re-establish the normal operation of financial markets and preserve employment and economic activity.

Internet 2011 alert; More oil investment; Financial reform needed; Economy; Germany signs tax convention; Pensions strength; Soundbites; Plus ça change…

Outlook deteriorates; Transport tackles CO2; Development setback; News shorts; Adult skills; Wikigender; Four new members; Pensions; Tax drag; Liechtenstein affair; Economy; Soundbites; Eastern promise; Brazil visit; Plus ça change…

Guido Mantega, Brazil’s finance minister, on a recent visit to the OECD headquarters.

Accession talks go ahead; Anti-corruption fight rewarded –; – as Brazil and Turkey warned; Latin American Reforms; Jobless benefits; Economy; Nano-safety; Italian red tape; Steely growth; New conference centre opens; World Bank ties; Soundbites; Plus ça change…

A statue of Korea's legendary General Lee Soon Shin stands guard outside the Ministry of Information and Communications in central Seoul. A poster announcing a major international joint Korean/OECD ministerial conference on the Future of the Internet Economy to be held on 17-18 June hangs at the front of the building.

Tax burdens back up; Offshore tax warning; Economy; Governance initiative launched; Anti-Bribery Convention at 10–; –Concern expressed about Chile and Argentina; Soundbites; Brazil in export credits pact; Innovation is the Kiwi; Farming subsidies ease; New Reflections; Gurría award; Faster EU progress urged; Plus ça change…

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría at the launch of a new multilateral initiative called the Partnership for Democratic Governance (PDG).The new initiative is designed to assist those developing countries that need help to improve governance, strengthen capacity and accountability, and deliver the services that are essential supports of effective government.

 Economic prospects in the US, Europe and Japan have become less buoyant and more uncertain, OECD chief economist Jean-Philippe Cotis said today, Wednesday 5 September. Economic prospects were losing buoyancy, while the risks are becoming more ominous, he said. 

South Africa joins Anti-Bribery Convention; Economy; Rebalancing confirmed; Safer pensions; Investment trends; Greener export credits; Tax talks; High in fibre; China's environment; Lifting French spirits; European aid scrutinised; Biofuels lift farm prices-; -and sow uncertainty; Nuclear energy rises; Plus ça change

Women off line; Broader faster; Economy; Cropping problems; Anti-corruption crusades; Tax accord; Home straight

Rebalancing continues; GDP edges up–; –as inflation drops–; –and unemployment steadies–; –though trade slows; Aid: More effort needed; Tax break; Spain in the chair; Plus ça change…

Development aid stalls; Growth eases; Inflation drops–; –and unemployment falls; Chinese Intelligence; Migration benefits; Slippery slopes; Plus ça change…

Turkey should improve corporate governance; Growth squeezes up tax burdens; Myanmar off money laundering list; Growth eases; Weakening activity ahead?; Inflation falls slightly; G7 trade slows

Latest edition: Higher education is a cornerstone of knowledge societies and it is expanding. How to deliver the necessary funding needed to improve quality and governance, and be able to compete internationally were key questions at the 2006 OECD education ministerial meeting, chaired by the government of Greece in Athens in June.

Unhealthy costs; Growth to moderate?; Unemployment falls; Safer pensions; New risk tool; Fairer business; G7 trade slows; Plus ça change…

Inflation rising; Spanish bribery; Unemployment stable; Tax wedges shrink; Aid tops $100 billion; New pension guidelines; Spam alert; Plus ça change…

Secretary-General Donald J. Johnston (right) shares some thoughts with his successor, former Mexican finance minister, Angel Gurría, who takes over as head of the organisation after the 2006 ministerial meeting. Mr Gurría will be the OECD’s fifth secretary-general since the OECD was set up in 1961. In the background is a portrait of Robert Marjolin, the first secretary-general of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation, the precursor of the OECD, founded in 1948.

Recovery on track; Energy fuels inflation; Leading indicators point up–; –but joblessness down; Hungary awards Mr Johnston; Smart aid; Value added clarity; Plus ça change…

Tsunami aid, one year on; China leads tech exports; Angel Gurría next SG; Quality lessons ; Inflation eases; Plus ça change…

Mixed growth picture–; –as leading indicator hesitates; Oil fuels inflation; Top spot; Middle East investment New action plan; Shipbuilding talks Pause for thought; Unemployment eases; Plus ça change…

London bombing ; Economy signals on slow– ; though GDP edges up ; Smart money ; Insuring against terror ; Fresh start ; Facing the music ; Plus ça change…

Better boardrooms ; Slow growth ahead ; Plus ça change ; Saving oil in a hurry ; Job rate stable ; Challenging goals ; Wage costs alert

Growth warning ; GDP stabilises– ; –with weaker growth ahead? ; Jobless rate eases ; Inflation falls ; Forum countdown ; Wage costs alert ; Plus ça change

GDP growth eases; and challenges ahead; G7 trade slows; Plus ça change; Secretary-General Johnston to step down; Major price survey; Mixed jobless rate picture; Steely outlook

Donald J. Johnston, the secretary-general of the OECD, will step down from office in May 2006. A former lawyer, politician and cabinet minister in the Canadian government, Mr Johnston was elected to the post of OECD secretary-general in 1996.

Aid breakthrough; Trade rises again; Plus ça change; Unemployment eases; Insurance drive; A fifth of jobs offshoreable; Finnishing school

Recovery slows?; Trade rises; China leads FDI stakes; Safer pensions; Nuclear choice; No change in jobless rate

Whenever oil prices rise, we set about thinking of alternative sources of energy. What if plants and animal waste could be harnessed better, would this be a viable option? Yes, if governments changed strategies, according to a new report out now called Biomass and agriculture: sustainability, markets and policies.

A new study by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) demonstrates a clear trend toward rising aid donations to fight HIV/AIDS.

Trade rises; Pollution most urgent, says poll; Tax havens progress; Growth ahead; Jobless rate holding; Tax wedges fall

Recovery more certain; Nauru off tax haven list; Pollution poll; Public comment on OECD Principles; Ukraine, Egypt make progress; Jobless rate lower

Composite leading indicators (CLI) project stronger recovery; Russia launches new drive to strengthen corporate governance; Jobless rate increases across the OECD area; Imports into G7 countries rise as exports stagnate; Growing energy demand will cost trillions in coming decades; FATF steps up campaign against terrorist financing; “Health of Nations” will be the theme for OECD Forum 2004

Shippers could face over a billion dollars in new security measures to counter terrorism; Combat against terrorist financing continues; Six former Soviet republics adopt plan to fight corruption; Chemical safety plant guidelines updated; Progress is made towards eliminating or reducing steel subsidies; OECD area is headed for moderate growth; Cancún talks end early amid deadlock; Mixed trade picture as merchandise trade slows; Unemployment falls across the OECD

GDP grows as leading indicator points up; New framework for managing conflict of interest; FATF steps up money laundering battle; Vanuatu removed from tax haven list; Jobless rate higher; Investors get cold feet; Brazil, Chile and Peru students struggle

Corporate governance in Asia; Russian progress on reform; Private investment in Africa; Economic indicator points down; Unemployment slightly up

The head of OECD’s education indicators, Andreas Schleicher, took what looked like a poor report card for Germany’s educational system and ended up receiving an award for himself, from none other than the Germans. In April he received for this achievement the prestigious Theodor Heuss award, named after the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Korea’s economic recovery in 2002 – with GDP growth of 6% despite a sluggish world economy – reflects the success of its economic restructuring programme and the underlying dynamism of the economy. But this should not lead to complacency about resolving remaining structural weaknesses and addressing emerging imbalances, the latest OECD Economic Survey of Korea says.

The Composite Leading Indicator (CLI) for OECD countries published in April showed a drop of half a percentage point in February 2003, to 120.4 from 120.9 in January, a six-month rate of change that continued the downward trend first started in May 2002. Still, the CLI varied from country to country, though nearly all OECD countries, except for Italy and Japan, experienced declines.

The standardised unemployment rate (compiled under International Labour Organization Guidelines) for OECD countries remained nearly unchanged at 7.0% in February 2003, albeit 0.2% higher than a year earlier. The rate has been holding steady at 7.0% since last October, and remains the peak figure of unemployment since 2000; it had previously dipped to 6.3% in January 2000.

“Africa is awakening to the realisation that its progress lies in partnership … we have got to be partners against all the evils emanating from the legacy of our history.” These were the concluding words of Mozambique’s president, Joaquim Chissano, who on 4 April became the second African head of state to recently visit the OECD. Mozambican President Chissano followed Senegal’s Abdoulayé Wade who in February 2002 came to participate in the launch of the Development Centre/African Development Bank’s first African Economic Outlook (see Book reviews).

Russia has “already travelled a great part of the road towards economic reform,” thanks in part to co-operation with the OECD, said Alexei Kudrin, Russia’s deputy prime minister and minister of finance, at a meeting of the OECD-Russia Liaison Committee held in Paris on 28 March.

The Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance, organised by the OECD in partnership with the World Bank, met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in March to establish regional reform priorities and to develop a White Paper on Corporate Governance in Asia. Scheduled for release in Tokyo on 11 June 2003, the White Paper will set forth a common policy agenda for corporate-governance reform in the Asian region.

The number of road deaths in the first half of 2002 was little changed from a year earlier, perhaps signaling an end to a steady decline in road fatalities that has lasted for a decade, according to preliminary figures for 12 OECD countries. Deaths rose in Hungary, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Norway, Germany and Australia, while declining in New Zealand, Spain, Austria, the Slovak Republic, Japan and Denmark.

Richard Manning, a senior British civil servant, has been elected chairman of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), succeeding Jean-Claude Faure who has held the post since 1999. Mr Manning will take up his duties in June 2003.

Ukraine is no longer subject to special counter measures imposed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering and terrorist financing after enacting comprehensive legislation to combat money laundering. But it will remain on the FATF list of non-cooperative countries and territories until it has effectively implemented the new legislation.

Claude Mandil of France is the new executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), a sister organisation of the OECD. He replaces Robert Priddle, who retired in December 2002 after eight years in the post.

Experts from most of the world’s steel-producing countries, including government and industry representatives, held talks in Paris aimed at cutting trade-distorting government subsidies. The 24 and 25 February meetings made progress, and participants hope to complete much of the work by September. While some serious issues need to be resolved to secure an agreement, “there is good will to remove differences,” said US Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Faryar Shirzad.

French President Jacques Chirac’s recent horror at French roads being among the most dangerous in Europe was borne out by recent figures from the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT), which is based at the OECD. These show that while the highest number of road deaths in absolute terms in 2001 occurred in Russia, up 4.4% from a year earlier at 30,898, France came second, up 1% at 7,720.

Many people, governments and institutions were caught out by the sudden spate of corporate scandals that swept some OECD countries in the past several months. Whatever the cause of these scandals, they have cast a light on the ability of existing regulatory frameworks and principles to prevent abuses that have undermined public trust in companies and markets. This includes the OECD’s own benchmark, the Principles of Corporate Governance, first adopted in 1999. Now they need review and strengthening.

Combating terrorist financing is a top priority for the FATF “and we are calling upon all countries around the world to join us in this effort,” new Financial Action Task Force (FATF) president Jochen Sanio said to mark the anniversary of the 11 September attacks on the United States.

It is in the interest of energy producers and consumers to work together to meet the global energy challenges of the next few years, International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Robert Priddle said at the launch of the latest World Energy Outlook report in Osaka, Japan in late September. “The messages in this book are of equal relevance to producers and consumers and the challenges it describes can be best met if we co-operate in tackling them.”

Jean-Philippe Cotis has taken up the post of OECD chief economist and head of the economics department, replacing Ignazio Visco who had held the position since August 1997.

Disagreements over steel protection have been a bone of contention between OECD countries for several months. Now, there may be agreement in sight as OECD countries have reached consensus on scrapping steel subsidies; it is a matter of agreeing on how to do so, and in particular, how to define what a subsidy actually is.

Growing worldwide dependence on information systems and networks makes it all the more important to protect these systems from cyberterrorism, computer viruses, computer hacking and other threats.

Russia has been taken off the list of countries failing to co-operate in the international fight against money laundering, after carrying out significant reforms of its anti-money laundering system. “This is a great success for Russia and the international community in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing,” said Jochen Sanio, president of the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering.

Who is the owner of the tanker “Prestige”, which sank off the coast of Spain carrying 70,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on 19 November? Early reports suggest that the company listed as the owner of the “Prestige” may not be the final “beneficial” owner, as that company is a single vessel company with no other apparent assets. The company may only be a subsidiary of another corporate entity in a different jurisdiction.

Despite the economic slowdown, inflation in the euro area has remained stubbornly above the 2% level the European Central Bank considers to be consistent with price stability. As the latest OECD Economic Outlook shows, inflation has remained persistent in the large, slower-growing economies, such as Germany and Italy. Inflation in these countries, though relatively low, has not declined sufficiently to offset higher rates of inflation in faster-growing economies, like Ireland.

WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi and OECD Secretary-General Donald Johnston met at OECD headquarters on 29 November to sign a progress report on trade-related technical assistance and capacity building in the follow up to Doha. The report draws on information provided by a joint WTO/OECD database and provides a snapshot of capacity building efforts in this area between 2001-2002.

Development aid holds steady; Russian visit; Early check-up for business ethics; IT outlook is not so dim; Trade fall eases?

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov discussed areas for further co-operation with the OECD during a visit to OECD Secretary-General Donald Johnston in Paris in July. According to Russian press sources, Mr Kasyanov also said his country would be interested in joining the OECD after Russia has become a member of the World Trade Organisation. The OECD’s programme with Russia is the organisation’s largest with a single non-member country and the OECD issued its fourth Economic Survey of the Russian Federation in February 2002.

Global agricultural commodity markets have taken a long time to recover from a precipitous drop in prices during the second half of the 1990s, caused by slack demand and trade in the wake of a general downturn in world economic growth, as well as continued high levels of government spending on farm support. However, according to the OECD’s Agricultural Outlook 2002-2007 published on 16 July, world agricultural prices should gradually rise from their current weak levels as the economic recovery strengthens at the end of this year and into 2003. It forecasts a more marked increase in prices for certain meats and dairy products than for cereals and oil seeds.

Business ethics are in the spotlight everywhere and OECD countries have agreed to bring forward a planned assessment of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance to 2004 from 2005. Meanwhile, the OECD plans to examine governance developments in corporate and financial spheres in a bid to identify lessons that can help the assessment. The decision to bring the assessment forward was made at the OECD annual ministerial council in Paris in May (see OECD.org, page 54) and follows several headline stories where business behaviour was called into question, from failure to transmit information to shareholders to alleged false accounting.

Prospects for the information technology industry remain strong despite the recent downturn, the latest OECD Information Technology Outlook says. New products and services such as broadband will continue to drive demand from firms, households and governments, and falling costs and technological developments will help. And despite the slowdown, markets for information and communications goods and services were equivalent to 8.3% of total GDP of OECD countries in 2001, compared with less than 6% in 1992. Just as the information technology sector was affected by, and contributed to, the current downturn, there is strong reason to believe it will have a significant role to play in the next recovery, the report says.

The fall in merchandise trade in OECD countries levelled off in the first quarter of 2002 after nine months of accelerating decline, but remained at a low level compared with last year. In value terms and at current prices, merchandise exports increased by 1.1% in the first quarter of 2002 compared with the fourth quarter of 2001 while imports fell by 0.4%. On a year-on-year basis, trade was still sharply lower. Compared with the first three months of the previous year, exports in the first quarter of 2002 were down 8.9% and imports dropped 11.0%.

Global tax co-operation; Economy on recovery path; Mixed praise; Ship shape - for more competition; Steely problems; Soundbites

The following jurisdictions, which have not yet made commitments to transparency and effective exchange of information, were identified on April 18 by the OECD's Committee on Fiscal Affairs as uncooperative tax havens.

Guernsey and Jersey have made commitments to improve the transparency of their tax and regulatory systems and establish effective exchange of information for tax matters with OECD countries by 31 December 2005. The OECD looks forward to working with Guernsey and Jersey and encourages other jurisdictions to come forward with similar commitments.

Barbados joins tax haven effort ahead of deadline; All countries urged to counter terrorist financing; Zero economic growth, though recovery expected in 2002; Road devastation; Freight flies higher

Members of the Financial Action Task Force will apply counter-measures to Nauru as a result of the Nauru government's failure to enact, by 30 November 2001, appropriate legislative amendments to its Anti-Money Laundering Act of 28 August 2001. The FATF announced its decision on December 5 and will follow the situation in Nauru closely.

Despite the pressing need to reduce global poverty, official development assistance continued to decline in 2000. In fact, all kinds of official funding for development – totalling USD 65.5 billion – were at their lowest level since 1990.

Migration flows into the OECD area has risen markedly in recent years, in part because of a IT workers. In 2000 a shortage of around 850,000 technicians was reported in the US and nearly 2 million in Europe. This is the key trend to emerge from the OECD’s latest annual TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION. The report also shows that the range of nationalities involved in migration has widened and flows, particularly into Europe, have been boosted by asylum seekers.

Economic growth in the OECD area has been weakening since the autumn of 2000, but the outlook could improve. Growth is now projected to drop to 2% in 2001, half last year’s rate, before recovering next year to 2.5-3%. At the same time, OECD-wide un-employment is projected to stop falling. Slower growth and a fall in oil prices will help to keep inflation low.

The knowledge society requires not only a higher level of basic education than in the past, but also new kinds of expertise and reliable means to measure them, OECD education ministers agreed at a two-day meeting in Paris in April.

Four jurisdictions have been taken off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list of non-cooperative countries and territories, but eight more have been added, for a total of 19 jurisdictions worldwide considered not to be helping with the international fight against money laundering.

Bahrain has announced its willingness to work with the OECD in eliminating harmful tax practices, after being included last year on an OECD list of 35 tax havens. Bahrain committed to transparency and exchange of information and said it would change its laws where necessary by the end of 2005, working with the OECD.

The events of 11 September were a stark reminder that international stability can never be taken for granted. But “people should be reassured that governments have taken the necessary steps to maintain stability and will continue to co-operate to minimise the negative economic effects,” OECD secretary-general, Donald Johnston said on 1 October.

The steel trade is suffering from a glut on the market. Workers and communities in many steelmaking areas are being affected, as is the ability of a growing number of firms to upgrade and maintain competitive facilities. Overproduction and overcapacity worldwide mean that many companies are struggling to survive. Should governments step in?

How can a multinational company offer stock or share options to its employees when the rules governing those options are different in the various countries where it operates? And how will they be taxed?

A global network of competition authorities is needed to boost anti-trust policy co-operation among developing and developed nations, EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti told the launch meeting of the OECD’s Global Forum on Competition in Paris in October.

The OECD’s effort to eliminate harmful tax practices is directed at “tax cheats” and is not intended to push countries into specific levels of tax, Secretary General Donald Johnston said. “There seem to be widespread misunderstandings as to what the project is all about,” Johnston said in a letter to US Congressman Sam Johnson. “It has nothing to do with insisting that a jurisdiction use a particular tax structure or rate… What the project is aimed at is preventing non-compliance with the tax laws.”

Korea became the 26th member of the International Energy Agency on April 20, the second new member this year after the Czech Republic joined in February. “We heartily welcome the Koreans,” said IEA Executive Director Robert Priddle. “Their membership will strengthen the Agency presence and influence in the Pacific region.”

The Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture (URAA) has had only a limited impact on world agricultural trade, with average bound tariffs on agricultural products still above 40%, ten times the level on manufactured goods, and the rates on some agricultural products exceeding 500%.

Argentina and the Netherlands have ratified the OECD anti-bribery convention, taking to 30 the total number of countries that at the time of writing have ratified the agreement. The Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions went into effect on 15 February 1999.

How much environmental damage is caused by agriculture? Quite a lot, though there has been improvement in some areas. The OECD’s first international study of the state and trends of environmental conditions in agriculture since the mid-1980s gives a comprehensive picture*.

India became the 27th member of the OECD’s Development Centre in February, joining other non-OECD members Argentina, Brazil and Chile. India has had a co-operation programme with the OECD since 1997. India’s external affairs minister, Jaswant Singh (see photo), said his country’s membership of the Development Centre would strengthen this dialogue.

Internet casinos are proving an attractive bet for criminals needing to launder their ill-gotten gains because of the difficulties encountered by the authorities in tracking such cyber transactions, the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering (FATF) says.

The OECD will have to find new ways of involving civil society and non-member governments in its work if it is to remain relevant and important in the 21st century, Secretary-General Donald Johnston told the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on September 27.

China has reached a critical point in reform of its enterprises and needs to make rapid progress in the next few years if it is to preserve the gains made so far, the OECD says in a new publication, Reforming China’s Enterprises.

OECD Secretary General Donald J. Johnston, at a meeting in Paris with President Putin, urged the Russian authorities to push ahead with their programme of reforms and encouraged them to reap fully the benefits of Russia's long standing co-operation with the OECD.

A June decision to name 15 territories as failing to cooperate with international efforts to combat money laundering, and a warning that they faced possible counter-measures if they did not improve, may already be showing results.

Abuse of corporate governance remains a common problem in Russia. Investors have often seen their shares diluted by insiders and major share-holders. Companies have seen their assets stripped by various means of transfer pricing. The interests of creditors have not been adequately protected and the mobilisation of capital has been hampered. Yet, good corporate governance is central for raising much-needed investment and stimulating economic activity. The Russian government has made pro-gress in economic reforms but more is needed to promote better governance, encourage dialogue, identify areas for technical assistance and to plan the way ahead.