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India-OECD seminar on fighting bribery in business transactions

Co-organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the OECD in New Delhi, discussions at this seminar focused on corruption challenges facing Indian companies today and what can be done to overcome these challenges.




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OECD-SADC-IFC-JICA seminar on private sector participation in Africa's infrastructure

This seminar focused on overcoming challenges to private sector participation in infrastructure in Southern Africa.




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Poland needs strategy to meet growing risk of foreign bribery

The current Polish framework for fighting foreign bribery is still inadequate to fully meet foreign bribery risks resulting from Poland’s growing economy, says a new OECD report.




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Portugal needs proactive enforcement to tackle severe foreign bribery risks, says OECD

Portugal’s enforcement of its foreign bribery laws has been extremely low. Not a single prosecution has resulted from 15 allegations of Portuguese companies bribing foreign officials in high-risk countries.




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FDI in Figures - July 2013

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.




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Lessons from investment policy reform in Korea

This study documents the liberalisation of the FDI regime in Korea between 1990 and 2010 and examines how and why it came about. The paper focuses on the lessons can we draw from the Korean experience about how to achieve rapid and sustainable reforms.




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Leaders endorse new G20/OECD principles on long-term investment financing

G20 Leaders today endorsed an OECD-launched initiative to encourage the flow of institutional investment towards longer-term assets, such as infrastructure and renewable energy projects, in order to strengthen the global economy.




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Global Value Chains offer major opportunity for growth and progress in advanced and developing economies, according to OECD-WTO-UNCTAD report to G20

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).




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Belgium should address “flagrant” lack of resources for fighting foreign bribery, says OECD

Fighting foreign bribery is not a priority in Belgium. Together with the flagrant lack of resources for Belgian law enforcement authorities, this has resulted in very few foreign bribery investigations and prosecutions. In the 14 years since the entry into force of the foreign bribery offence in Belgium, only one case of bribery of foreign public officials has been concluded.




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Despite certain progress, the OECD remains concerned with Russia’s compliance with key provisions of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention

Russia has yet to address key provisions of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which entered into force in Russia in April 2012. It has not yet fully implemented recommendations for strengthening its framework for combating foreign bribery and should be more proactive in detecting, investigating and prosecuting foreign bribery cases.




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New Zealand not immune from foreign bribery, says OECD

New Zealand must significantly increase its efforts to detect, investigate and prosecute foreign bribery. Since joining the Convention over 12 years ago, New Zealand has not prosecuted any cases of foreign bribery and only four allegations have surfaced to date. Outdated perceptions that New Zealand individuals and companies do not bribe may have also undermined detection efforts.




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Myanmar pledges further investment climate reforms; welcomes OECD efforts to promote responsible investment

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.




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FDI in Figures, October 2013

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.




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Forum on implementing due diligence for responsible mineral supply chains

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.




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Trade and Investment Week kicks off with responsible business practice conference

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).




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Conference on advancing responsible business practices in the Asia-Pacific region

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.




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Anti-Corruption Ethics and Compliance Handbook for Business

Developed by companies, for companies, with assistance from the OECD, UNODC, and World Bank, this Handbook serves as a useful, practical tool for companies seeking compliance advice in one, easy-to-reference publication. It brings together the major business guidance instruments for companies and illustrates them using real-life, anonymised case studies provided by companies.




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2013 Annual Report on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

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.




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Green Growth and Sustainable Development Forum 2013: How to unlock investment in support of green growth?

The 2013 Forum was held on 5-6 December and discussed how governments can improve their investment policy framework to reduce the risk and attract long-term private finance in support of green growth.




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Roundtable on the Impact of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention 15 Years On

This roundtable focused on the impact the Anti-Bribery Convention has had on the global anti-bribery agenda since its entry into force in 1999, as well as what should be done to ensure the Convention's continued relevance going forward.




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Ireland must urgently apply more resources to enforce Anti-Bribery Convention, says OECD

Ireland should increase its resources to detect and investigate foreign bribery more efficiently. Resources have, in recent years, been largely devoted to investigating non-bribery cases in the financial sector. Ireland has not prosecuted a foreign bribery case in the twelve years since its foreign bribery offence came into force, and law enforcement has taken few proactive steps to investigate allegations.




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FDI in Figures, February 2014

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.




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Conference on promoting responsible investment in Myanmar

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.




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Recommendation of the OECD Council on Effective Public Investment Across Levels of Government

Recommendation of the OECD Council on Effective Public Investment Across Levels of Government




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Progress made but Chile should better detect and thoroughly investigate foreign bribery, says OECD

Chile has made positive efforts to implement the Convention, but there has not been a single foreign bribery conviction. Chile did not sufficiently investigate several of the six foreign bribery allegations that have surfaced since 2001. Chile should improve its investigative and detection efforts, says OECD




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Lack of enforcement jeopardises South Africa’s fight against foreign bribery; OECD concerned that political and economic considerations may be an influence

South Africa must take urgent steps to proactively investigate and prosecute foreign bribery. No foreign bribery cases have been prosecuted since South Africa joined the Convention in 2007. The 4 on-going investigations – out of only 10 allegations that have surfaced to date – are also far from reaching the prosecution stage, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.




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FDI statistics workshop on measuring globalisation

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.




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Proposed EU responsible trading strategy for minerals from conflict zones

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.




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Southeast Asia Regional Forum

Organised in Bali on 24-25 March 2014, this forum addresses regional competitiveness for sustained growth. Individual sessions will discuss investment policy and promotion; SME policies; public-private partnerships; regulatory reform; and, innovation. These discussions will contribute to the objectives of the 2015 ASEAN Economic Community.




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Workshop on responsible and conflict-free sourcing in the Turkish gold supply chain

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.




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OECD-Risklab-APG Workshop on pension fund regulation and long-term investment

Held in Amsterdam on 7 April 2014, this workshop focused on: long-term pension investment strategies under risk-based regulation; riskiness and pro-cyclicality in pension asset allocation; and, regulatory challenges for long-term illiquid assets.




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Pooling of Institutional Investors Capital – Selected Case Studies in unlisted equity infrastructure

This G20 report looks at the evolution of private institutional investment in infrastructure and examines how the market has developed; analyses various investment vehicles with a snapshot of the growth experienced in the market; categorises methods used for investing in infrastructure; and, highlights the challenges and barriers to investment.




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FDI in Figures, April 2014

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.




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7th Forum on responsible mineral supply chains

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.




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Tajikistan should step up its fight against corruption

Tajikistan needs to step up its fight against corruption and turn political declarations of commitment into action, says a new OECD report.




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Mongolia should persist with systematic anti-corruption reforms

Mongolia should persist with systematic reforms in its struggle against corruption, says a new report by the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan (IAP).




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Communiqué by participants at the 7th ICGLR-OECD-UN Group of Experts Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains

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




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OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises - Responsible Business Conduct Matters

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.




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Fourth Annual High-Level Anti-Corruption Conference for G20 Governments and Business

Co-organised by the Italian Co-Chair of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group and the OECD, participants discussed progress in advancing the key elements of the global anti-corruption agenda and innovative solutions to address the latest challenges facing countries, business and civil society.




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Estonia needs to promptly address rising foreign bribery risks, says OECD

Estonia’s framework for combating foreign bribery may be inadequate to efficiently tackle rising foreign bribery risks resulting from its increasingly export-intensive economy.




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Slovenia must urgently prioritise the fight against foreign bribery, says OECD

Serious steps must be taken by Slovenia to ensure that it effectively detects, investigates and prosecutes allegations of transnational bribery.




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Statement of OECD Working Group on Bribery on Spain’s efforts to amend its Penal Code and to enforce its foreign bribery offence

The OECD Working Group on Bribery supports Spain’s efforts to further reform its Penal Code to bring its anti-bribery law into line with its international obligations under the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.




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Statement of OECD on Japan’s Efforts to Increase Foreign Bribery Enforcement

Due to serious concerns about the extremely low level of enforcement of Japan’s offence of bribing foreign public officials – just three prosecutions since 1999 – the OECD Working Group on Bribery recommended in December 2013 that Japan establish an Action Plan to organise police and prosecution resources to be able to proactively detect, investigate and prosecute cases of foreign bribery by Japanese companies.




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Statement by the National Contact Points for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises - One Year After Rana Plaza

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




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Fact finding survey on investment treaty law, sustainable development responsible business conduct

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




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The Policy Framework for Investment in Agriculture

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.




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Latin America and Caribbean: Conference on infrastructure investment

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.




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OECD-AfDB seminar on addressing policy impediments to private investment in African infrastructure

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.




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B20 Panel: The next wave of global investment: what and where?

Since the start of the crisis, a growing number of OECD countries have been reporting declining inward and outward FDI, a phenomenon that could be described as ‘investment de-globalisation’. Governments must take immediate and vigorous action to reverse such trends by removing unnecessary barriers and complexities that hinder investment, said OECD Secretary-General.




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Self-assessment of South Africa's investment regime in relation to the OECD Codes of Liberalisation and the principle of National Treatment

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.