03/05/2004 - The OECD and the Inter-American Development Bank are holding a high-level Forum in Rio de Janeiro on 5-6 May 2004 to discuss how best to identify and guard against conflicts of interest that can undermine the integrity of public service. The Forum is organised in co-operation with the Organisation of American States and the Government of Brazil.

Conflicts of interest have become a key issue in public debate world-wide. New forms of conflict between the individual private interests of public officials and their public duties arise as the public sector becomes more commercialised and works more closely with business and non-profit agencies. When conflict-of-interest situations are not properly identified and managed, they can endanger the reputation of government organisations and result in corruption.

Journalists are invited to a news conference after the opening session of the Forum at 10.45 a.m. on Wednesday, 5 May with Brazil’s Minister of Control and Transparency, Waldir Pires, and Minister José Dirceu de Oliveira Silva, Chief of Staff to the President, and representatives from the OECD, IDB and OAS. The news conference will take place at the Forum venue: Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social, Avenida República do Chile 100, Rio de Janeiro.

Participants in the Forum will share experiences on ways of implementing conflict-of-interest policies, drawing on the OECD’s recently published Guidelines and Toolkit for Managing Conflict of Interest. Their discussions will pave the way for further implementation work in the context of the OAS Inter-American Convention against Corruption.

Details on the Forum can be found on the OECD website, at www.oecd.org/gov/ethics. For further information, journalists are invited to contact Janos Bertok (tel: [33] 1 45 24 96 29) in the OECD’s Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development.