The Egyptian government is focusing on several regulatory reform and improved governance priorities. An initiative now underway, ERRAD, aims to collect and review all legislation and ministerial decrees in the areas of investment, trade and industry.  A Transparency and Integrity Committee was also formed to help establish a national strategic plan for governance in civil service.  Special attention is also given to reforming the social security system.

The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which entered into force 10 years ago this December, was the first global instrument to fight corruption in cross-border business deals. To date, 30 OECD member countries and eight non-member countries-Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Estonia, Israel, Slovenia and South Africa-have adopted the convention.

10 years ago this December the OECD Convention on Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Deals entered into force. The Anti-Bribery Convention requires that its signatory countries make it a crime to bribe a foreign public official in exchange for obtaining, or retaining, international business. Of the 38 countries around the world that have ratified the convention to date, not one is part of the MENA region.

Morocco is facing the same challenges as most other countries in the MENA region, and hopes to follow the best and most practical paths toward the integrity, transparency, openness and partnership that will promote good governance and development.

OECD activity now looks to be approaching its nadir, following the deepest decline in post-war history.

Governments and state-owned enterprises buy a wide variety of goods and services, from basic computer equipment to the construction of roads. But did you know that such public procurement represents some 10% to15% of GDP across the world?

Ensuring Environmental Compliance: Trends and Good Practices

Despite their progress in developing green laws and policies, OECD countries are noton track to achieve some of their key environmental goals and commitments.

Governments must put transparency and accountability at the heart of all rescue and reform measures if they are to regain public trust and investor confidence. Here is why.

Pension funds suffered a blow in the financial crisis. So did public confidence. How can pensions be made more secure?

If the general consensus is correct-that the roots of global economic crisis are in the financial system-then it follows that to resolve the crisis the global financial governance and financial market regulation must be fixed.

If there is one major lesson to draw from the financial crisis, it is that corporate governance matters.

The trouble with crises is that it is hard to predict which direction they will go. Concerted efforts can help reduce the risk of a deterioriation, but not guarantee it.

“The Chinese government rightly advocates firm opposition to trade and investment protectionism, as emphatically stated by Premier Wen Jiabao on several occasions in the past few weeks. As it did a decade ago during the Asian crisis, China has set itself firmly against inward retrenchment in the face of economic downturn. We celebrate this commitment at OECD.

Pressure is mounting to arrest climate change, so it's hardly surprising that people around the world are being urged to use public transportation. After all, an overall strategy that includes getting people to give up their trucks and cars to use electric trolley buses, tramways and rail can help make a real dent in pollution, traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. But try telling that to Australians living in the outback, long miles from the nearest bus station. Even most Japanese, who have access to some of the world's best high-speed rail links and urban mass transit, own some type of private vehicle.

The global economic crisis is affecting families and communities across the planet. With regions bearing the brunt of the crisis, affecting businesses, jobs and people generally, regional policies are very much part of the solution.

The financial crisis and economic downturn are likely to put upward pressure on government debt. The trouble is, according to OECD in Figures 2008, public debt (general government debt, which includes central and local government) had already risen quite sharply in the OECD as a whole since 1987, from 59% of GDP to 75% in 2007. Two decades ago, Belgium had the highest public debt, but today that position is filled by Japan, whose debt rose from below 60% to 170% of GDP. Italy’s debt has also shot above 100% of GDP in the past 20 years.

Far from being a snubbed “CSR Cinderella”, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises are being widely used by companies seeking to be recognised as leaders in responsible business practice and sustainable development. But if governments want them to be used even more widely, then they must take action to promote them further.

The credit crunch could usher in a new paradigm of stewardship for pension fund trustees and the dawn of a more accountable capitalism.

The OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2007**. A decade on, the aim of the Convention–to fight against active corruption (offering bribes)–is as pertinent as ever.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría at the launch of a new multilateral initiative called the Partnership for Democratic Governance (PDG).The new initiative is designed to assist those developing countries that need help to improve governance, strengthen capacity and accountability, and deliver the services that are essential supports of effective government.

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On 19 June 2007 South Africa became the first African country to join the OECD’s Anti-Bribery Convention. The still photo shows South Africa's ambassador to France, Nomasonto Maria Sibanda-Thusi, welcomed by OECD secretary-general, Angel Gurría.

As political leaders gathered in Heiligendamm in northern Germany this June and before that at the OECD in Paris in May, the concern on everyone’s minds was the future shape of the global economy.

Financing retirement was the theme in the latest in a new series of online public discussions, “Ask the economists”. Held in April, OECD experts fielded a dozen questions from readers in Canada, France, Germany, Korea, the UK and the US, as well as the World Bank, about issues such as taxation, equity, early retirement, life expectancy, mortality-linked debt, the role of savings in stocks and real estate, and private versus public provision. The following are just a few extracts from the debate.

Imagine a tax return no longer than a postcard. This at least is what proponents of a “flat tax” system predict.

Government contracts generate valuable economic activity, but they are also prone to bribery on a global scale. A new report shows how policymakers might detect bribery in public procurement and suggests ways of defeating it as well.

The 1997 Anti-Bribery Convention was the first global instrument to fight corruption in cross-border business deals. It has since been ratified by all 30 OECD countries and six non-members. National governments and businesses have used the Convention to improve their own legislation and raise standards.

The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention is ten years old in November, yet rarely has it been in the public spotlight quite as much as in recent months, thanks to headline-grabbing investigations of possible bribery of foreign officials by companies from member countries. We asked Mark Pieth, chair of the Working Group on Bribery, to explain.

Tax inspectors may be an eagle-eyed lot, but in today’s global, technology-sophisticated world, their job has become extra challenging. The OECD’s 1996 Recommendation on the Tax Deductibility of Bribes to Foreign Public Officials is designed to discourage international corruption by disallowing bribes that take the form of tax-deductible expenses, for instance.

The report entitled Challenges for China’s Public Spending: Toward Greater Effectiveness and Equity, published earlier this year, identified education and healthcare as priority areas for public spending. Why does China need to spend more on education and health?

Globalisation brings costs and benefits, even for the tax professional. The move towards a borderless world has opened up new opportunities for taxpayers to minimise their overall tax liabilities. Much of this tax planning is legitimate. Good tax planning is driven by the reality of businesses having to operate with increasingly complex laws, particularly affecting international activities, while at the same time wanting to legally minimise their costs, including tax costs.

Governments around the world need to be better prepared for large-scale catastrophes and take a more proactive role in working with the insurance industry and other players, OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría told participants at the inaugural meeting of the OECD International Network on Financial Management of Large-Scale Catastrophes in Paris, 8 September 2006.

Destination Europe is a slightly misleading title since its subject, the political development of Europe from 1945 to 2003, is a journey with a point of origin when Europe, which a generation earlier dominated the world, lay in ruins with no destination.

Can technology bring better government? Anyone who has filled a tax return online would probably answer yes. But is that enough? The answer is, probably not. A new report, E-Government for Better Government, the second phase of an OECD project launched in 2001, suggests that while in principle, e-government instruments can improve efficiency, increase citizen awareness and help promote new initiatives, it is not enough just to open a website. The basic key challenges remain the same in the real world as in the virtual one: how to be more agile, responsive and accountable.

“Good governance is the basis of all OECD activities, which is hardly surprising given that it is essential for all economic and social progress.” These remarks by Secretary-General Donald J. Johnston set the tone for a ministerial meeting on Strengthening Trust in Government, hosted by the Netherlands in Rotterdam on 28 November.