Reports

This report assesses the state of Armenia’s sanitation services, which are in poor shape, and proposes ways forward for reforming the sector by: ensuring equitable access by all and identifying solutions that work for the poorest and most remote communities; generating economies of scale and scope, and reducing both investment and operational costs for the efficient delivery of sanitation services; and moving towards sustainable cost recovery for the sanitation sector, by identifying how much funding can be mobilised from within the sector and how much external transfers are required. The state of Armenia’s sanitation services are inadequate, with 51% of the population in rural areas using unimproved facilities, causing direct damage to the environment and exposing inhabitants to health risks, and better access but degraded sewerage-system infrastructure in urban areas, posing health hazards due to potential cross-contamination between sewage and drinking water. According to preliminary estimates, EUR 2.6 billion of investments will be required to meet Armenia’s sanitation needs, with approximately EUR 1 billion needing to be spent in the next 7 to 10 years. Given the country’s current economic situation, this investment will have to be spread over time and targeted to avoid further deterioration of infrastructure and increase of the financing gap.

This review of Corporate Governance in Colombia was prepared as part of the process of Colombia's accession to OECD Membership. The report describes the corporate governance setting for both listed companies and the state-owned sector (SOEs). The review then examines the legal and regulatory framework and company practices to assess the degree to which the recommendations of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance and the OECD Guidelines on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises have been implemented. The review finds that Colombia's framework for the corporate governance of listed companies is largely consistent with the Principles, although some companies have been reluctant to implement some of the good practices recommended in Colombia's national corporate governance code. For SOEs, the report recognises substantial reforms undertaken during the review process to adopt an ambitious national ownership policy. Reforms have included establishing an ownership co-ordination unit and more transparent reporting on SOE performance, and removing ministers from SOE boards and establishing more transparent board nomination processes aimed at enhancing the qualifications of board members. The report seeks continuing efforts to consolidate these reforms and to implement plans announced in the national ownership policy.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are important elements of many national economies. They are also increasingly active internationally, which has led to renewed concerns in recent years about whether their competitive conditions in home markets might adversely impact “fair” competition with companies abroad. Many of the concerns held by national policy makers and businesses surrounding foreign SOEs’ competitive conditions stem from limited transparency and information on SOEs. This report seeks to bolster the factual information base by presenting the main findings of the most comprehensive and internationally comparable dataset currently available on the size, sectoral distribution and corporate forms of national SOE sectors in 40 countries.

Norway has long used technology to streamline processes within the public sector and bring the government closer to citizens and businesses. Now the country is going further, seeking to transform its public sector through the full assimilation of digital technologies. The goal is to make it more efficient, collaborative, user- and data-driven, and better able to respond to the changing needs and expectations of citizens and businesses. This review analyses the efforts under way and provides policy advice to support the Norwegian government in implementing digital government.