Businesses are increasingly expected to address the adverse impacts on people, planet and society that may be associated with their operations, products and services, while contributing to sustainable development. As these expectations grow, there is also a greater recognition of the role governments play in promoting and enabling responsible business conduct (RBC). Several OECD instruments highlight this role. The OECD Recommendation on the Role of Government in Promoting Responsible Business Conduct [OECD/LEGAL/0486], in particular, lays out a set of policy recommendations to assist governments in their efforts to create enabling environments for RBC. The OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises more specifically recommends that governments promote and enable RBC across relevant policy areas, including by promoting RBC through trade and investment policies.
Against this backdrop, this report aims to analyse how governments in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye are encouraging responsible business practices through trade and investment. It is part of the regional programme “Responsible business conduct for sustainable development: Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye” (MENA+T Programme), which seeks to assist policymakers, businesses, trade unions and civil society in implementing RBC principles and standards. The report draws on information gathered through desk-based research, annual questionnaires submitted by National Contact Points for Responsible Business Conduct (NCPs) to the OECD Secretariat, and two meetings with the NCPs of the countries under scope, the first one of which included a survey on RBC in trade and investment and the role played by NCPs. It builds on a previous regional report titled “Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in Trade and Investment: Latin America and the Caribbean”, which was published in 2024 in the framework of the regional programme “Promoting Responsible Business Conduct in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
The report was prepared by the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct under the supervision of Tihana Bule, Head of Governance and Multilateral Relations and Nicolas Hachez, Head of Access to Remedy, with the overall Guidance of Allan Jørgensen, Head of the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct. The team that drafted the report was led by Marie Bouchard and comprised of Mónica Garay, Daniel Torán and Dylan van de Ven. Comments and insights were received from Lena Diesing from the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct, Alexandre de Crombrugghe and Joachim Pohl from the Investment Division of the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs and Julian Paisey from the Export Credits and Competition Division of the Trade and Agriculture Directorate. Editorial support was provided by Liv Gudmundson, Zara Kuruneri and Stephanie Walker.
The OECD MENA+T Programme is implemented by the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct in collaboration with the OECD Istanbul Centre. Financial support is provided by the governments of Germany and Switzerland.
The information contained in the report is current as of December 2025.