The MENA-OECD Business Council

Objectives l What sets the MENA-OECD Business Council apart? l Membership advantages and criteria l Proposed Task Forces and deliverables l Related meetings l Key references l Contact

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Launched in the context of the 2009 MENA-OECD Ministerial Conference, the MENA-OECD Business Council is an initiative started by the MENA-OECD Investment Programme to encourage an active and joint voice of MENA and OECD business communities in ongoing business climate reform projects on both a national and regional level.

The overall objectives of the Business Council are to:

• provide high-level recommendations to policy makers on business climate reform priorities
• support reform implementation by sponsoring high-impact projects on innovation, entrepreneurship and competitiveness
• foster exchange and learning based on OECD experience and good practice
• strengthen the public-private dialogue through a series of high-profile debates
• generate new and sector-specific business opportunities

Key differentiating factors of the MENA-OECD Business Council are:

• Membership: business leaders from both OECD and MENA countries work together for investment climate reform in the MENA region
• Scope: the MENA-OECD Business Council will be generating a series of concrete, measurable and time-bound outputs on both regional and country-specific issues, structured by subject. For example, differentiated solutions could be proposed for oil-producing vs. non-oil-producing countries
• Content: the MENA-OECD Business Council work and outputs will be supported by the analystical and statistical expertise of the OECD and its staff
• Implementation: Existing networks facilitated by the OECD through the MENA-OECD Investment Programme ensure that recommendations put forth by the MENA-OECD Business Council reach government representatives at the highest level

Membership advantages include:

• privileged dialogue with country leaders and business peers to prioritise reforms and generate business opportunities
• impact on reform through a consolidated voice of business representatives from both MENA and OECD countries
• greater international visibility of obstacles affecting the MENA business climate
• participation in key OECD events

Members of the MENA-OECD Business Council should be senior business representatives (CEO, partner, director or vice president) of a company with operations in either a MENA or OECD country, maintaining substantive business activities or strong interests in the MENA region, and with an active interest in engaging in the MENA-OECD Business Council activities.

The MENA-OECD Business Council proposes five Task Forces dedicated to

• the Enterprise Financing Network
• responsible business conduct (with reporting channels to the MENA-OECD Responsible Business Forum)
• women's entrepreneurship
• country competitiveness
• infrastructure and sustainable energy

Outputs would include

• holding the MENA 100 Business Plan Competition
• diffusing good responsible business conduct models
• extending the OECD National Contact Point model to MENA countries
• producing a comparative studies on leval and institutional obstacles to women's access to finance
• diffusing good practices from the best multi-national enterprises in the MENA region
• producing annual surveys of the pulse of business
• identifying, prioritising and removing policy barriers to infrastructure and renewable energy development

Preparatory meeting of the MENA-OECD Business Council, Paris, 1 October 2009

MENA-OECD Business Council proposal [English l French]

For further information on the MENA-OECD Business Council, please contact Vanessa Vallée, Communications Manager, at vanessa.vallée@oecd.org, or write to mena.investment@oecd.org