WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/WGTI/W/116
30 April 2002
(02-2464)
Working Group on the Relationship
between Trade and InvestmentOriginal:  English
COMMUNICATION FROM THE OECD
The following communication, dated 26 April 2002, has been received from the OECD, further
elaborating the statement made by the observer representative of the OECD at the meeting of 18 and
19 April 2002.
_______________
OECD ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF INVESTMENT CAPACITY BUILDING
1. The OECD has long experience with investment capacity building. Based on decades of
improvement, implementation and monitoring of the OECD Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements
and Current Invisible Operations and the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational
Enterprises (see www.oecd.org/daf/investment), the OECD  has developed an approach to capacity building
which has been successfully tested on its own Members, including the transition and emerging economieswho have recently acceded to the Organisation.
2. The specific features of the OECD’s approach to capacity building are as follows:
− Multilaterally-endorsed FDI policy benchmarking , covering the many dimensions of an effective
enabling environment for investment;
− Inter-governmental peer review , which facilitates learning, contributes to the ownership and
credibility of the resulting recommendations and avoids "one-size-fits-all" approaches;
− Progress reporting mechanisms ;
− Access to stable networks of inter-connected government officials from the thirty OECD countries ,
for longer-term follow-up and assistance, th rough Committee processes and other similar
structures.
3. The benefits of this approach have been extended to interested non-Members. In the broader sense,
all OECD’s non-member (or "outreach") activities in the field of investment are relevant in the context of
capacity building, as are pieces of analytical work which relate to international investment outside theOECD area.
1
                                                     
1 A report entitled ‘FDI for Development. Maximising Benefits -- Minimising Costs’ will be published in the
second half of 2002 by the OECD Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises (CIME).The CIME is also working on the development of a draft Checklist of the policy choices and possible pitfalls facing
both OECD and non-OECD countries engaging in, or considering, offering investment incentives.  In June 2002, as
part of its work programme on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the CIME will organise aRoundtable on corporate responsibility within the supply chain to which representatives of developing countries willbe invited.WT/WGTI/W/116
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4. There are four main categories of OECD invest ment capacity building activities, many of them
supported through Members’ voluntary contributions (more detail on selected outreach activities in 2002and 2003 is provided in Annex I):
− Non-Member Adherence to the Declaration and other country peer reviews.  Six non-Members –
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia – have adhered to the OECD Declaration
on International Investment and participate in related CIME work; Singapore, Israel, Latvia and
Venezuela have applied.  Other countries have expressed possible interest in similar applications.
Work on a FDI Policy Review of China is star ting in 2002. Country reviews are made public.
− Global Forums. OECD Global Forums have been designed to assume a Committee-like structure
in order to enhance the capacity of non-Members to benefit from OECD work and have an
influence on it.
1. Global Forum on International Investment.  The Forum's inaugural conference in November
2001 in Mexico was followed by a conference on FDI and environment in the mining sector
in early 2002. The next arrangement will build on the Ministerial Declaration in Doha, the
Monterrey FfD consensus and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development.
It will take the form of a conference in November 2002 in Asia under the general theme of
"Attracting FDI for Development".  The invitees will include senior government officials
from OECD and non-OECD countries, multilate ral and regional organisations (including
ADB, ASEAN, APEC, EC Commission, IMF, UNCTAD, WAIPA, and the World Bank),
business and labour representatives, and civil society organisations.  The Forum conferences
can be used to perform peer review sessions on specific issues (such as Transparency
measures and practices in FDI regulations, or investment incentive policy evaluations in light
of the CIME Checklist currently under development).
2. June 2002 Workshop of the Global Forum on Trade.   The OECD Trade Committee, in co-
operation with the Government of Hong Kong, China, is organising a Global Forum on Trade
workshop focusing on the Singapore issues to be held on 18-19 June.  In organising the
workshop, the Trade Directorate is working with the Trade and Industry Department of Hong
Kong, China, non-Member economy representatives, invited NGO experts, other OECDdirectorates -- including CCNM, DAFFE, the De velopment Co-operation Directorate, and the
OECD Development Centre -- and with intern ational organisations (including WTO, the
World Bank, UNCTAD, APEC) and Member country contributors.
− Regional investment programmes. Through the South East Europe Investment Compact, the
OECD is contributing concrete capacity building assistance in the countries of the region.  The
programme has been advanced as a model of what might usefully be envisioned in the area of
investment in neighbouring regions: combining in-country teams and monitoring (published
Monitoring Instruments, country reviews, project team missions); and close involvement of the
private sector throughout the process. More recently, a three-year Caribbean Rim Investment
Initiative was launched.
− Istanbul Centre for Private Sector Development .  The OECD is co-managing the Istanbul-based
Multilateral Centre for Private Sector Development, which provides a central platform for co-
operation between OECD and transition or emerging economies in the region on private sector
development policies.  The Centre’s programme of work for 2002 includes inter alia  the following
initiatives in the field of foreign direct investmen t: (i) FDI in tourism; (ii) FDI in the oil and gas
industries; (iii) FDI and environment; and (i v) international investment incentives.WT/WGTI/W/116
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5. Expanded OECD co-operation with other international organisations is intended to increase the
quality of capacity building and achieve synergies.  The co-operation may take several forms.  There is aneed to improve the sharing of information on re spective capacity building activities.  Memorandums of
Understanding for Co-operation, as recently signed  by the OECD with UNCTAD and the Work Bank,
should contribute to improving co-ordination.  The World Bank, UNCTAD, WTO and other relevant
international bodies could also be invited to take part in peer reviews of non-Members by the OECD.
(They are already involved in OECD regional and Global Forum programmes).  Mutual observership at
respective reviews and other similar events may be usefully institutionalised, budget permitting.WT/WGTI/W/116
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ANNEX I
Outreach investment-related activities 2002-2003
Activity Current
StatusOECD/
Non-OECD PartnersNext Steps Contact Persons
GLOBAL FORUM ON
INTERNATIONAL
INVESTMENT (GFII)M. Ögütçü
F. Benois
GFII 2001
• GFII Inaugural Conference on
New Horizons and Challengesfor Foreign Direct Investment in
the 21
st Century, 26-27
November 2001, MexicoHeld OECD: CCNM, DAF, DCD,
ECHWorld Bank, IMF, UNCTAD,
IADB• Selected and edited  papers
published:"New Horizons for FDI"
• Presented as input to UN FfD
Monterrey conference,March 2002
• GFII Conference on Foreign
Direct Investment andEnvironment,
7-8 February 2002, ParisHeld OECD: CCNM, ENV, DAF, • Upcoming publication of
selected papers "FDI andEnvironment"
• To be presented as input to
Johannesburg summit onsustainable development,August/September 2002M. Ögütçü
P. Börkey (ENV)
GFII 2002
• GFII-Financial Times
Roundtable, "Mobilising FDI forDevelopment"To be
confirmedFinancial Times (FDI
Magazine) BIACBusiness Council forSustainable DevelopmentAgenda, dates and venue to be
determined
• GFII annual conference,
"Attracting FDI for
Development" November 2002,
AsiaPlanned Agenda, dates and venue to be
determinedWT/WGTI/W/116
Page 5Activity Current Status OECD/
Non-OECD PartnersNext Steps Contact
Persons
COUNTRY PROGRAMMES
CHINA M. Ögütçü
K. DaviesF. Benois
• Conference on FDI and China’s
Regional Development, Xian,
11-12 October 2001Held OECD: CCNM, DAF, TDS
MOFTEC, World Bank,
ADB, UNIDOForthcoming publication, "FDI in China’s
Regional Development, Prospects and
Policy Challenges".
• FDI Policies Study of China Under preparation MOFTEC To begin in April 2002
RUSSIA Focus on the following actions:
• OECD-Russia Committee on
Enterprise Development*,22 January 2002, MoscowHeld Eurasia Foundation, FIAS • Regional pilot projects on removing
obstacles to enterprise and investment inco-operation with Eurasia Foundation
and FIAS.
• Innovative programmes to improve
access to finance for small business.
• Simplification of the tax and accounting
system for small business.
• Capacity building in investment
promotion at the national and regionallevel, using the OECD Best Practices onInvestment Promotion.
• Cross-border co-operation within the
framework of the programme on
enterprise development and investment
promotion in North-West Russia.M. Forst
K. Travkina
*www.oecd.org/daf/enterprise-development.WT/WGTI/W/116
Page 6
Activity Current Status OECD/
Non-OECD
PartnersNext Steps Contact
Persons
COUNTRY PROGRAMMES
RUSSIA cont…
• Follow-up to Russia FDI
Review A Progress Report
containingassessments/reporting by
Russian Government,
business and OECD –similar to that of Ukraine– could be undertaken.The Russian Ministry of Economic Development and
Trade (Deputy Minister Materov) and the Ministry ofForeign Affairs (Mr. Medvedkov) identified investment
co-operation as a high priority in the OECD-Russia
dialogue, requested follow-up work through a steering-group of Russian/Western experts and governmentofficials.M. Ögütçü
UKRAINE
• Follow-up to Investment
Policy ReviewHeld Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Rogoviy, asked for the
continuation of the policy dialogue and co-operation
with the OECD on best FDI policy practices andinvestment promotion under the OECD-Ukraine Forumon Investment and Enterprise Development.M. Ögütçü
• Inaugural Meeting of the
OECD-Ukraine Forum on
Investment and Enterprise
Development, Kiev,21-22 February 2002Held World Bank,
IMF, EBRD,
European
CommissionBIACMain follow-up actions identi fied at the recent Forum in
Kiev:
• Work on good governance to improve the general
investment environment
• Promoting Ukraine as a destination for investors as
Ukraine comes closer to OECD best practices
• Foreign investment for Ukraine’s regional
development
• Fostering enterprise development, with a focus on
removing administrative barriers
• Improving tax administration, design of corporate
taxes and incentives
• Following up work on corporate governance and
competition policyM. ÖgütçüWT/WGTI/W/116
Page 7Activity Current Status OECD/
Non-OECD PartnersNext Steps Contact Persons
LATIN AMERICA
• Caribbean Rim Investment
Initiative, May 2002, JamaicaPlenary
meeting ofparticipatingcountriesInter-American Development
Bank, CARICOML. Beaty
• Meeting on Investment and
Enterprise Development in SouthAmericaPlanned Dates and venue to be determined M. Forst
EUROPE - CENTRAL ASIA
South East Europe Compact for
Reform, Investment, Integrity and
Growth (Investment Compact)
(Regional Flagship Initiatives)D. Murphy
• Workshop on Special Issues in the
Negotiation of Tax Treaties",14-18 January, ViennaHeld R. Parry
• SEE Regional Roundtable on
Investment Promotion,
14 February 2002, IstanbulHeld Implementation of 2002 Action
Plan to improve SEE investment
image and strengthen capacity of
Investment Promotion AgenciesM. Caruso
• FDI in Slovenia and SEE,
19 MarchHeld Co-organised with the
Government of Slovenia
• "Building Institutions and Laying
Foundations for International Co-
operation", 25-27 March 2002,
BelgradeUnder
preparationCo-organised by competition
authorities of Bulgaria, FYR,
Macedonia and SloveniaOverall conclusions report
including activity plans by SEE
countries to be prepared by end
May 2002.L. Goranson
J. Volkai
Further SEE country monitoring andregional meetings Dates and venues
to be determinedWT/WGTI/W/116
Page 8
Activity Current Status OECD/
Non-OECD PartnersNext Steps Contact
Persons
OECD ISTANBUL CENTRE FORPRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT
• Capital Market Development in FEAS
Countries, 5 April 2002, IstanbulPlanned USAID, World Bank H. Blommestein
• Investment, Public/Private Partnerships
and Output Based Aid Schemes, 27-28May 2002, IstanbulPlanned World Bank M. Forst
• Capital Market Development in FEAS
Countries, October 2002, KazakhstanPlanned USAID H. Blommestein
• Workshop on Oil and Gas, Istanbul Planned IEA Dates to be determined M. Ogutcu
M. Forst
BALTIC REGIONAL PROGRAMME
• Foreign Direct Investment Statistics Second phase of the
programmepostponedProposals are: on site assistance
resulting in the preparation of a draftguide on FDI statistics of the Balticcountries which will be discussed andfinalised at a Workshop in early
2002. Possible co-operation with
EUROSTAT.A. Bertrand
• Baltic Forum for Enterprise
Development and Finance WorkingGroup I, April 2002, TallinnPlanned M. Forst
• Baltic Forum for Enterprise
Development and Finance WorkingGroup II Meeting, September 2002,TallinnPlanned M. ForstWT/WGTI/W/116
Page 9Activity Current Status OECD/
Non-OECD
PartnersNext Steps Contact Persons
CO-OPERATION WITH OTHER
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
• UN Financing for Development
Conference, 18-22 March 2002, MexicoCo-operative work
between OECD
Secretariat and UN
FacilitatorResults of the OECD Global Forum on
International Investment will feed into the
preparatory process of the UNFfD
Monterrey conference.R. Ley
M. Ögütçü
• WTO, post- Doha Investment work Regular contacts
and exchange ofinformation with
WTO SecretariatThree main paths:
• pursuing consensus-building analytical
work
• contributing to capacity building in non-
OECD countries
• engaging the business community and
other civil society stakeholdersP. Poret
M. Ögütçü
• Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable
DevelopmentResults of the OECD Global Forum on FDI
and Environment in the Mining Sector  will
feed into the Johannesburg processM. Ögütçü
• ASEAN Preliminary
Contacts made inMarch 2002Co-operation in the field of investment could
include exchange of information, analysis,statistics and mutual participation inmeetings. Possibility of engaging in a joint
work in Asia on FDI issues.M. Ögütçü
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