Background Reading

1. Background reading

2. General information about the OECD

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1. Background Reading

• Meeting of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level 2006 - Key information
  This brochure provides Ministers, senior officials, the media and the public with the latest information on OECD work pertaining to the issues that will be discussed during the Ministerial Meeting.

More information on the topics discussed during the meeting:

A. Short-term economic prospects in member countries

• OECD Economic Outlook No. 79
  This issue looks at prospects for 2006 and 2007 and includes a special report on future budget pressures arising from spending on health and long-term care.

More on the economic situation.

B. Economic growth and employment

• Reforms for growth and prosperity
  OECD Observer article by Kostas Karamanlis, Prime Minister of Greece and Chair of the 2006 OECD Ministerial Council
• Structural reforms in Europe
  OECD Observer article by Jean-Claude Trichet, President, European Central Bank
• OECD Factbook 2006: Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics 
  More than 100 indicators cover a wide range of areas: economy, agriculture, education, energy, environment, foreign aid, health and quality of life, industry, information and communications, population/labour force, trade and investment, taxation, public expenditure and R&D. Data are provided for all OECD member countries with area totals, and for selected non-member economies.
• Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2006
  This second issue takes stock of the progress made in implementing policy reforms, and provides comparative indicators covering structural policy areas such as labour markets, education and product market regulation. Special feature: a focus on innovation, which is a key driver of economic growth.
• Creating Value from Intellectual Assets
  At its meeting in May 2004, the Ministerial Council proposed a programme of work aimed at improving understanding of the role played by intellectual assets in value creation, growth and economic performance. This report documents the growing importance of intellectual assets for firms and the economy more generally and draws a number of implications for policy makers.
• The OECD Initiative on Investment for Development (brochure)
  Despite positive trends in the past decade, private investment in many countries, especially developing and transition economies, continues to fall short of development needs. This has led to renewed interest in the importance of private investment for promoting the broad based growth that will help drive poverty reduction. This brochure reports on the outcome of the work to produce the two reports listed below.
  • Policy Framework for Investment (report)
    Adopted by the OECD Council on 11 May 2006, the objective of the Framework is to mobilise private investment that supports economic growth and sustainable development.  It thus aims to contribute to the prosperity of countries and their citizens as well as to support the fight against poverty.  The Framework proposes a set of questions for governments to consider in ten policy fields identified in the 2002 UN Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development as critically important for improving the quality of a country’s environment for investment.
  • Using ODA to Promote Private Investment for Development: Policy Guidance for Donors (report)
    Donors are supporting a vast range of activities that affect investment, both domestic and foreign. They spend around 20% of their aid on these. But little evaluative material is available on the impact of these interventions on investment and employment in developing countries. The objective of this Policy Guidance is to help DAC members use their ODA more effectively to mobilise private investment for development.
• Boosting Jobs and Incomes: policy lessons from reassessing the OECD Jobs Strategy
  Creating new opportunities for employment and encouraging people to find jobs is a major challenge for most governments. At the conference "Boosting Jobs and Incomes", ministers, business leaders, academics and unions representatives from civil society will discuss the lessons that have emerged from the assessment of the Jobs Strategy, defining policies that work, and those that don't. (see documents listed under the heading "Key reports)

More on growth, ageing, employment, investment.

C. Trade

• After the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting: What is at stake?
• The Costs and Benefits of Trade Facilitation
• Making Open Markets Work for Development
• Opening Up Trade in Services: Crucial for Economic Growth
• Opening Markets for Environmental Goods and Services
• Tackling Trade in Agriculture

• Challenges for China's Public Spending: Toward greater effectiveness and equity
  China needs to boost spending on health and education and to allocate public funds more effectively.
• OECD Review of Agricultural Policies in China
  Government support and subsidies give Chinese farmers around 6 % of their income, a far lower proportion than in most OECD countries, but even this low level of funding could be applied more effectively if used in other ways.
• OECD Economic Survey of China
  China could overtake the US and Germany to become the largest exporter in the world in the next five years. By then, Chinese goods and services could represent as much as 10% of global trade compared with 6% today.
• Governance in China
  China needs to make wide-ranging changes in the way it runs its public and private sectors if it is to continue on a stable growth path leading to full integration into the world economy.
• OECD Investment Policy Review of China : Open Policies towards Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions
  This report evaluates the progress made in developing an effective institutional framework for cross-border M&A in China, takes stock of remaining obstacles, and offers policy options to address them.

2. General information about the OECD

• OECD work on G8 priorities for 2006 Summit
  For this year's Summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the top priorities laid down by President Vladimir Putin are global energy security, education, and fighting infectious diseases.
• OECD Annual Report - 2006
  This Annual Report highlights some of the OECD's achievements of the past year and describes how it is helping its member countries respond to new challenges ahead.
• Previous meetings of the OECD Council at Ministerial Level: 2005, 2004.
• Getting to Grips with Globalisation - The OECD in a Changing World
  Globalisation brings both challenges and opportunities. Responding to them is a matter for governments as well as for citizens. This booklet sets in perspective many of the policy challenges which the OECD has addressed over the last few years, and indicates some of those to which it must now turn its attention.