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May 2022 Volume I

Through active consultations with our global business community, we are gearing up for milestone meetings next month that will shape the strategic directions of the OECD—and consequently that will also impact our businesses on the ground.
 
We will participate on 9-10 June in the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting under the chairmanship of Italy. This important gathering will address “The Future We Want” as main topic, outlining the policies needed for the next generation and a sustainable transition.
 
Prior to that, we will also participate in the OECD Labor Ministerial on 7 June, where we will present tangible recommendations for OECD and government actions to deliver a job-rich recovery and to also tackle labor shortages, which rank highly on our business agendas. We invite you to browse below other upcoming engagement opportunities.
OECD Ministerial Consultation with Business at OECD and trade unions in Rome
 
Last month on 29 April, our Italian member Confindustria hosted our annual Consultation with OECD leadership, Ambassadors, Business at OECD and TUAC in preparation for our participation in the 9-10 June OECD Ministerial Council Meeting. During the consultation, our delegation, led by our Chair Rick Johnston, provided business perspectives on the importance of international cooperation in an evolving global scenario and the need to ensure inclusive and sustainable opportunities for the digital and green transitions.
In addition to highlighting the important role the OECD can play in addressing the current crisis, we underlined business considerations for improving health resilience and addressing labor shortages, skills mismatches, and the challenges young people face in participating in labor markets. Our written contribution for the Ministerial will be finalized in the coming days ahead of the OECD Ministerial meeting, in which we will actively participate.
Reimagining Regulation to Support Innovation

Last month on 26-27 April, our Governance and Regulatory Policy Committee co-organized with OECD and George Washington University the Symposium ´Agile Governance for Our Future - Reimagining Regulation to Support Innovation’ in Washington, DC featuring business, government, academia, and civil society exploring how to implement agile governance with more dynamic, flexible, and iterative regulatory principles.

Our Executive Board Chair Rick Johnston delivered a keynote speech emphasizing business support to the OECD Recommendation on Agile Governance that the OECD Council adopted in October 2021, and that seeks innovation and technological change by also actively consulting with the private sector as a key stakeholder. Other speakers included President, Global Affairs & Chief Legal Officer at Google and Alphabet Inc. Kent Walker, OECD Deputy Secretary-General Jeffrey Schlagenhauf, and Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein.
 
The second day of the event featured workshop discussions on the implementation of the Agile Governance Recommendation which featured policy experts and key stakeholders. Our Governance and Regulatory Committee Chair Dr. Yilmaz Argüden shared a panel with Head of the OECD Regulatory Policy Division Nick Malyshev, Google Director of Global Strategy Michael Fitzpatrick, and Executive Director of the IBM Center for The Business of Government Dan Chenok. In his remarks, Dr. Argüden emphasized the need for active engagement of the private sector in promoting international regulatory cooperation to foster business-led contributions towards economic growth.

Contact: Jacobo Ramos Folch

 
Business roundtable on the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance
 
Last week on 6 May, business representatives from around the world gathered at the OECD headquarters in Paris to provide our initial input to the review process of the G20/OECD Corporate Governance principles. Focusing on the three key topics of climate change, the role of board-level committees, and the role played by institutional investors and stewardship, our representatives serving on boards of directors, audit committee, and investors offered insightful comments based on their own experience as practitioners, which will be incorporated into the first revised draft of the Principles in the coming months. We will continue to engage in the review process, not only through our participation in the OECD Corporate Governance Committee, but also our own proactive events including the second roundtable after the summer.
 

German business representatives visit Paris
 

Last week, we organized an OECD visit for a large metals and electronics industry business delegation from our German national member organization BDA. Business representatives had the opportunity to exchange with OECD senior staff on the work the Organization carries on employment, skills, migration, and responsible business conduct, among others.
 
Our Executive Director Hanni Rosenbaum welcomed the visit as a tangible example of relationship building between our members and the OECD on priority issues and how through Business at OECD we can strengthen public-private dialogue. Our Senior Director Ali Karami-Ruiz provided an overview of how we convey structured business input in all aspects of OECD policymaking and presented the OECD agenda on emerging global issues. We encourage members who are interested in an OECD business visit to contact us.

Contact: Rokas Morkunas

Showing OECD and country experts how business workplace wellness programs are making a difference
 

Earlier this week, our Senior Director Ali Karami-Ruiz addressed country representatives at the OECD Expert Group on the Economics of Public Health. His intervention pointed to the role workplace well-being programs play in reducing absenteeism/presenteeism and boosting productivity. He also conveyed our global business recommendations on how the OECD can make a tangible difference by establishing best practice criteria so governments can incentivize and scale-up partnerships that bring effective results. He also called on OECD to lead research and policy development to show how physical activity can contribute to better health outcomes and reduce government health expenditure. Sharing insights on workplace wellness programs, he identified governments could further deepen work linking mental health and reducing stigma around related disorders, especially after extended isolation periods during Covid-19, and to disseminate facts and figures to improve entrepreneurs’ health literacy and their understanding of why promoting workers’ health is critical as we go forward.
 
As this topic is of pivotal importance to our global members, we will feature it as a thematic panel in our forthcoming Forum on Health, to be organized in early 2023. As we provide future business and employers guidance to OECD in this field, we encourage our business representatives to share their workplace health wellness programs with us to inform future efforts.

Contact: Ali Karami Ruiz
Employer representatives to meet with Stefano Scarpetta ahead of upcoming OECD Labor Ministerial
 
Later this month on 20 May, our Employment Committee will meet to review our strategic messaging ahead of our participation in the OECD Labor Ministerial on 7 June. Business participants will be able to exchange virtually with Stefano Scarpetta, OECD Director for Employment, Labor, and Social Affairs on challenges and opportunities employers face in the field of labor this year. We will also provide business representatives with an update on our “Business Needs You” forthcoming campaign, which will convey recommendations to OECD and its governments on tackling labor shortages, and also on our participation in other employment-related OECD workstreams, including on Artificial Intelligence and skills-based recruitment. We invite interested business representatives to contact us to participate in this important dialogue.
 
OECD launches new Voluntary Transparency Reporting Framework
 
Last week on 3 May, the OECD launched its new Voluntary Transparency Reporting Framework, a portal for submitting and accessing standardized transparency reports from online content-sharing services about their policies and actions on terrorist and violent extremist content online. Supported by all 38 OECD countries, it represents an important step towards a more holistic understanding of the measures taken by online content-sharing services to address terrorist and violent extremist content online and the consequences of those measures for human rights.

Two years in the making and developed with more than 100 of the world’s leading authorities on addressing violent extremist and terrorist activity online, platform governance, and human rights, the Voluntary Transparency Reporting Framework 1.0 is the result of an international, multi-stakeholder consultation, to which we have actively contributed.
 

 

 
Watch the launch event
Contribute to the OECD/WTO analysis of the impact of cross-border data regulation
 
We are actively collecting business responses to the OECD/WTO questionnaire analyzing the impact of cross-border data regulation on economic activity. This research is an opportunity to underline important challenges that companies face, and support policymaking to better understand and address emerging issues. The aggregate and confidential results will be used to shape and design policies that can enable data to flow across borders with trust.

If you would like to contribute, please respond to the online OECD/WTO Business Questionnaire by 3 June. To further support this joint work, we encourage you to please share this questionnaire widely within your own networks.
Contribute to the questionnaire
Business contributes to the Pillar One Extractives Exclusion Public Consultation
 
Last month on April 29, our Tax Committee submitted our comments on the Pillar One Extractives Exclusion Public Consultation to the OECD Secretariat. Our Tax Committee supports exclusion for Extractive Activities and its policy goal of excluding the economic rents generated from location-specific extractive resources that should only be taxed in the source jurisdiction. Our comments emphasized:
  1. profitability for in-scope activities of an extractive company should be calculated as if the in-scope activities are undertaken as a standalone business,
  2. simplification to segmentation approaches (in order to bifurcate the financial results of an MNE between in-scope and excluded activities), including having transition periods.
 
News from our members
Oil embargo: German industry supports this step

"A European embargo on Russian oil is an extraordinarily drastic step. For the Russian state, the sale of oil is the most important source of income. An oil supply freeze will hit Russia hard.

German industry supports this step. Since the beginning of the invasion, companies have worked closely with politicians to make this practically possible. In the face of Russian aggression, unequivocal, targeted and long-term lasting sanctions are needed that punish the aggressor more than we Europeans.

 
Read More
Latest Economic Outlook, and getting ready for Dublin Climate Summit

This week, Ibec launched its latest Economic Outlook report, forecasting economic growth of approximately 4.3% in the year ahead. This represents a decrease from the 6.1% that was predicted for 2022 in Q4 2021, largely as a result of the economic impact from rising costs and supply chain challenges across the global economy, accelerated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Read More
USCIB Trade and Investment Agenda 2022
 
As the world rebounds from the challenge of COVID-19, it is imperative that the United States take a leadership role in shaping a post-pandemic recovery. The United States must not be left behind as nations forge ahead with establishing rules and standards to address priorities of the new economy, including climate change, socio-economic inequality, and emerging technologies.
 
Read More
Horizon Belgium 2030 – Vision for the future of a better Belgium

More than 400 business leaders, captains of industry, politicians, policy makers and young people were present at the FEB Forum 'Horizon Belgium 2030' at the end of last week. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo underlined the importance of such a vision of the future in his closing keynote.

(Article in Dutch)
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