OECD MINISTERIAL MEETING: THE “NEW ECONOMY”; WTO TRADE ROUND;

AND GUIDELINES FOR MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES

The OECD Ministerial meeting in Paris has called for a new WTO trade

round to be launched as soon as possible, endorsed updated Guidelines

for Multinational Enterprises and addressed the appropriate regulatory

structures in the areas of biotechnology and food safety.

Ministers noted that the OECD area is growing at its fastest pace since

1988. But this growth performance is mixed between countries, with some

performing significantly better than others.

The final communique of the OECD Ministerial Meeting identified Australia,

along with the United Sates, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and

Norway, as the better performing economies in the OECD area. These economies

had achieved rising per capita GDP growth in the 1990s compared with the

1980s and had been relatively successful in increasing employment growth

over this period.

The OECD Ministerial Council endorsed the need for continued work to

better understand the strong economic performance of these countries and

to assess to what extent this performance represented a “new economy”

based on increasing innovation, knowledge and information and communications

technologies.

The recognition by the Ministers of the exceptional performance of the

Australian economy follows the release of the first report of the OECDs

Growth Project, “Is There a New Economy?”

Ministers also assessed how policy should respond to an increasingly

knowledge-based and interdependent world. Key issues identified were:

the need for strong and consistent economic reform programs; good governance

and transparency; flexible competitive markets; and sound macroeconomic

policies.

A major outcome from the meeting was the adoption of updated OECD

Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. These OECD guidelines provide

a robust set of recommendations which will improve the international investment

climate and encourage the positive contributions multinational enterprises

can make to economic, social and environmental issues.

Ministers also endorsed the importance of moving on from Seattle and

proceeding with a new WTO trade round as soon as possible. Trade liberalisation

would help realise the promise of the “new economy” and be beneficial

to both developed and developing economies.

Another key topic considered at the Ministerial meeting was the appropriate

regulatory structures for biotechnology and food safety. Ministers also

reconfirmed the OECD work on eliminating harmful tax practices and confirmed

that the OECD should play a lead role in addressing tax policy and administration

issues posed by electronic commerce, along with its efforts in combating

bribery and corruption.

27 June 2000

Paris