OECD Global

🌍 The 2025 Business Advisory Board (BAB) brought together public and private sector leaders from across the MENA and OECD economies on 29–30 October at Expo City Dubai, a dynamic policy laboratory for turning growth into jobs and opportunity.   With nearly 300 million young people set to enter MENA labour markets over the next 25 years, discussions focused on how to raise participation and productivity through faster, more inclusive growth. Participants explored ways to diversify economies, strengthen regional connectivity, and foster integration, translating these priorities into business-led action and joint policy experiments.   Hosted by the United Arab Emirates, the meeting spotlighted the country’s vision “We the UAE 2031” and its efforts to align public investment and private innovation across strategic sectors such as agrifood, tourism and connectivity.   A highlight of the event: the OECD and the MENA-OECD Business Advisory Board nominated H.E Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy and Tourism, United Arab Emirates as a Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) Champion, recognising the UAE’s leadership in advancing collaborative reform and innovation-driven growth.   The BAB also marked the launch of a new OECD policy paper Supporting policy action via public-private dialogue: A practical tool, offering practical guidance to PPD facilitators and participants. The paper outlines the key elements of a successful dialogue process and explores how inclusivity, ownership, and sustainability can ensure lasting impact. It also features a practical checklist to support the design, implementation, and monitoring of effective PPD initiatives.   The outcomes of the BAB will feed into the 2026 MENA-OECD Ministerial Meeting and inform the Business Annual Report, capturing key takeaways and pilot initiatives emerging from the sessions.   🤝 Together, governments and businesses are charting a path toward a more competitive, connected, and resilient MENA region.   While in Dubai we also had productive meetings with the Prime Minister’s Office to advance in the renewal of the MoU between OECD and UAE.   I also met with Hala Shash of the World Government Summit in preparation of the EU-OECD special session on resilience and trade which will be held during the 2026 WGS.   Marta Blanco Quesada Raffaele Trapasso

Asia accounts for 55% of the world’s listed companies and is home to some of the most dynamic capital markets. The region’s vibrancy and continued challenges for further growth were at the heart of discussions during the 2025 OECD-Asia Roundtable on Corporate Governance held over the last 2 days in Bangkok. The annual regional forum brought together 150 participants from 23 Asian jurisdictions to discuss recent corporate governance and capital market reforms in the region. The discussions focused on: ➡️ The role of boards in sustainability reporting, based on the new OECD report Board Responsibility and Sustainability-Related Disclosure in Asia ➡️ Corporate governance in company groups ➡️ The role of institutional investors in Asian markets ➡️ The interplay between public and private equity markets The OECD Capital Market Review of Thailand was also launched during the meeting. It assesses Thailand’s capital market and provides recommendations to improve it by strengthening the institutional landscape & corporate governance, facilitating access to public equity and corporate bond markets, mobilising private capital markets, and strengthening household savings and financial literacy. Read the OECD report Board Responsibility and Sustainability-Related Disclosure in Asia: https://lnkd.in/eNzN-Ndz Read the OECD Capital Market Review of Thailand: https://lnkd.in/epKCNR_4 For more analysis on capital markets in the region, read the OECD Asia Capital Markets Report 2025: https://lnkd.in/dnYDHQTt Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand; Thailand Securities Institute (TSI), The Stock Exchange of Thailand; Financial Services Agency, Japan (JFSA, 金融庁)

Uzbekistan has sustained strong economic growth for more than two decades, supported by a young population and steady reforms. The country aims to reach upper middle-income status by 2030 and investment policy reforms could help speed up progress toward this goal.   The new Roadmap for Sustainable Investment Policy Reforms in Uzbekistan, a cooperation between the OECD, the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Commission takes a strategic, long-term view of Uzbekistan’s investment climate while also offering practical recommendations for short- and medium-term improvements.   The analysis covers the legal and institutional framework for investment, tax incentives, and measures to promote responsible business conduct. It also explores the trends and impacts of foreign direct investment on Uzbekistan’s economy and society focusing on how investment can further support the green and digital economy and participation in global value chains.   🔗 Find some of the key figures and recommendations below, and read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eF5xKEDh Fares Al-Hussami | Alessandra Mistura | Zoé Ryan | Kerstin Schopohl | Rania Ampntel Chafiz | Irina Grigoryeva | Stratos D. | Stephen Thomsen | @Santhosh Persaud | Dylan van de Ven | Peline Atamer | Luke Mackle | Christina U. Pak | Rolando Avendano | Pramila A. Crivelli | Annette Magnusson | Derek Carnegie | Aleksey Sim | Tengiz Asanov | Saidolim Kodirkhujaev | Grégory Lecomte | Céleste Laporte-Talamon | Ana Novik | Martin Wermelinger | Global Gateway | OECD Global

It was a pleasure to join the Indonesia–Europe Investment Summit 2025, organized by EuroCham Indonesia (The European Business Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia) discuss how we can build a more resilient and mutually beneficial partnership for sustainable growth. I highlighted: ✅ Making the country a more attractive investment destination is rarely the result of a single policy. Indonesia’s historic decision to begin OECD accession, and alignment with its key standards — including the OECD Policy Framework for Investment and the OECD FDI Qualities Policy Toolkit — will support a whole-of-government approach, combining sound investment policy with strong institutions, regulatory quality, open trade, competition, and complementary reforms in education, STI, and RBC. OECD evidence shows that openness and lower services restrictions significantly boost FDI and productivity across value chains. ✅ Corporate income tax cuts rarely shift investment decisions, as effective tax rates tend to converge across countries. Instead, many economies now use more strategic incentives — investing in skills, innovation, infrastructure, SME linkages, and green projects. Ultimately, investors prioritise transparency, predictability, and a stable, level playing field. ✅ Strong performers on investment attraction emphasise regulatory transparency, reduced services restrictions, effective competition policy (including for SOEs), policy coherence at all levels of government, robust RBC implementation in accordance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and SME integration to maximise spillovers. ✅ OECD instruments work as a coherent package, but several foundations matter early on: strong national–subnational coordination, institutionalised Regulatory Impact Assessments and consultations, simple and transparent licensing, and shared digital platforms to cut costs and raise predictability. ✅ The EU–Indonesia CEPA discussions have already encouraged valuable regulatory reflection. Indonesia’s engagement with the OECD and the accession process will further reinforce rule-based, transparent policy frameworks — strengthening trust and predictability with European partners. Many thanks to EuroCham Indonesia for inviting me to this important event and look forward to further cooperation. A special thanks also to the OECD Investment Division for their excellent cooperation and support. #OECD #Europe #Indonesia #EuroCham #Investment #TradePolicy #RegulatoryReform #SustainableGrowth #GoodGovernance

What is the OECD Latin America and Caribbean Regional Programme? Since 2016, OECD Members and LAC countries have been working together on shaping a resilient, more productive and inclusive region. This year's #LACMinisterial Summit is taking place on 10 November in Asunción, Paraguay where participants will engage in high-level discussions under the theme "Building trust: Integrity, quality infrastructure and public services optimised with AI". Registration is open now: https://brnw.ch/21wXiuK