Annual OECD Ministerial Council Meeting 29-30 April, 2003

15/04/2003 - Ministers from OECD and non-OECD countries will hold two days of talks in Paris on 29-30 April 2003 on the economy, development issues and trade.

Journalists wishing to cover the OECD ministerial meeting are invited to arrange accreditation through the OECD's website: http://www1.oecd.org/subject/mcm/2003/ where they can also find full details regarding the ministerial meeting and the OECD Forum 2003 which will precede it.

OECD Secretary General Donald Johnston will present the main themes and objectives of the OECD ministerial meeting at a press conference at the Centre d'Accueil de la Presse Etrangère (CAPE), Maison de Radio France, 116, avenue du Président Kennedy, Paris 75016, on Friday 25 April 2003 at 11.00 a.m.

This year's session, chaired by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, comes at an important moment for the world economy and for international co-operation. The near-term outlook for the OECD area is one of weak and hesitant growth, owing partly to geopolitical tensions but also to cyclical factors and loss of confidence in markets and to deeper structural problems in many economies. Ministers will look beyond short-term remedies toward policies to maintain confidence and enhance growth over the decade to come.

Details of media events will be made public on the OECD's website. A provisional list is as follows:

• Wednesday 23 April
  2.00 p.m. - A news conference on aid effectiveness and donor co-operation, following the two-day High Level OECD Development Assistance Committee meeting of ministers and aid agency heads, with current and future Committee chairs Jean-Claude Faure and Richard Manning.
  
  
• Thursday 24 April
  11.00 am. - A news conference by Jean-Philippe Cotis, the OECD's Chief Economist, to present the OECD's Economic Outlook no. 73, giving latest OECD forecasts for major world economies.
  
  
• Friday 25 April
  11.00 a.m. - A news conference to present the main themes and objectives of the OECD Ministerial Council meeting will be held by Secretary-General Donald Johnston at the Centre d'Accueil de la Presse Etrangère (CAPE), Maison de Radio France, 116, avenue du Président Kennedy, 75016 Paris.
  
  
• Monday 28 April - Tuesday 29 April
  Speakers at the OECD Forum 2003, Centre International de Conférences Kléber, Avenue Kléber, 75016 Paris, will be available to meet journalists in between sessions.
  
  
• Tuesday 29 April
  12.30 p.m. - News conference following the annual governing board meeting at ministerial level of the International Energy Agency, at Hotel Méridien Étoile, 81 Boulevard Gouvion Saint Cyr, 75017 Paris.
  1.00 p.m. - News conference with John Sweeney, President of the U.S. AFL-CIO and of the Trades Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC), and other labour leaders following consultations with OECD ministers.
  3.00 p.m. - Media seminar on OECD work in the area of development assistance.
  6.00 p.m. - Briefing on the first session of the ministerial meeting.
  
  
• Wednesday 30 April
  11.00 a.m. - Media seminar ontransport security and its implications for the fight against terrorism.
  12.45 p.m. - Briefing by Pascal Lamy, EU Trade Commissioner.
  1.30 p.m. - Closing news conference by the Chair of the Ministerial Meeting, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.
  2.30 p.m. - Briefing by Adolfo Urso, Italian Minister for Foreign Trade.
  

Details of additional media briefings will be announced once the ministerial meeting is under way. For further information, consult the dedicated website: http://www1.oecd.org/subject/mcm/2003/ .

For further information, journalists should contact the OECD Media Relations Division (tel: [33] 1 45 24 97 00).