O E C D Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation of thirty countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and free market economy. It originated in 1948 as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), led by Robert Marjolin of France, to help administer the Marshall Plan, for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. Later, its membership was extended to non-European states, and in 1961, it was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development by the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Fast Facts.. ♥ Established: 1961 Location: Paris, France Membership:30 countries Budget: EUR 342.9 million(2008) Secretariat staff: 2 500 Secretary-General: Angel Gurría Publications: 250 new titles/year Official languages:English/French The 30 member countries of the OECD are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,  Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg,  Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand,  Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

About the OECD..♥ The OECD brings together the governments of countries committed to democracy and the market economy from around the world.The organization provides a setting in which governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices, and co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The mandate of the OECD is broad, covering economic, environmental, and social issues.       It claims to help to;   • Support sustainable economic growth   • Boost employment   • Raise living standards   • Maintain financial stability   • Assist other countries' economic development   • Contribute to growth in world trade   The OECD also shares expertise and exchanges   views with more than 100 other countries   and economies, from Brazil, China, and Russia    to the least developed countries in Africa.

OECD Continued. Monitoring, analysing and forecasting For more than 40 years, the OECD has been one of the world's largest and most reliable sources of comparable statistics, and economic and social data. As well as collecting data, the OECD monitors trends, analyses and forecasts economic developments and researches social changes or evolving patterns in trade, environment, agriculture, technology, taxation and more.  The Organisation provides a setting where governments compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and coordinate domestic and international policies. Enlargement and enhanced engagement In May 2007, OECD countries agreed to invite Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia to open discussions for membership of the Organisation and offered enhanced engagement, with a view to possible membership, to Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. The approval of so-called "road maps" in last December marks the start of accession talks with Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia. Publishing The OECD is one of the world’s largest publishers in the fields of economics and public policy. OECD publications are a prime vehicle for disseminating the Organisation's intellectual output, both on paper and online. Information about publications is available through the OECD Online Bookshop and through Source OECD, its groundbreaking online library of statistical databases, books and periodicals.

Who Does What??

Who Does What Cont. The Council Decision-making power is vested in the OECD Council. It is made up of one representative per member country, plus a representative of the European Commission. The Council meets regularly at the level of permanent representatives to the OECD and decisions are taken by consensus. The Council meets at ministerial level once a year to discuss key issues and set priorities for OECD work. The work mandated by the Council is carried out by the OECD secretariat. Committees Representatives of the 30 OECD member countries meet in specialised committees to advance ideas and review progress in specific policy areas, such as economics, trade, science, employment, education or financial markets. There are about 200 committees, working groups and expert groups. Some 40 000 senior officials from national administrations go to OECD committee meetings each year to request, review and contribute to work undertaken by the OECD secretariat. Once they return home, they have online access to documents and can exchange information through a special network. OECD secretariat Angel Gurría heads the OECD Secretariat and is assisted by one or more Deputy Secretaries-General.  Mr Gurria also chairs the Council, providing the link between national delegations and the Secretariat. The Secretariat in Paris is made up of some 2 500 staff who support the activities of committees, and carry out the work in response to priorities decided by the OECD Council. The staff includes economists, lawyers, scientists and other professionals. Most staff members are based in Paris but some work at OECD centres in other countries.

What They Do and How They Do It. The OECD uses its wealth of information on a broad range of topics to help governments foster prosperity and fight poverty through economic growth and financial stability. We help ensure the environmental implications of economic and social development are taken into account.                                                                                                                       The OECD's work is based on continued monitoring of events in member countries as well as outside the OECD area, and includes regular projections of short and medium-term economic developments. The OECD Secretariat collects and analyses data, after which committees discuss policy regarding this information, the Council makes decisions, and then governments implement recommendations.

.. Peer reviews Mutual examination by governments, multilateral surveillance and a peer review process through which the performance of individual countries is monitored by their peers, all carried out at committee-level, are at the heart of our effectiveness. An example of the peer review process at work is to be found in the Working Group on Bribery, which monitors the implementation by signatory countries of the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials in International Business Transactions. Agreements, standards and recommendations Discussions at OECD committee-level sometimes evolve into negotiations where OECD countries agree on rules of the game for international co-operation. They can culminate in formal agreements by countries, for example on combating bribery, on arrangements for export credits, or on the treatment of capital movements. They may produce standards and models, for example in the application of bilateral treaties on taxation, or recommendations, for example on cross-border co-operation in enforcing laws against spam. They may also result in guidelines, for example on corporate governance or environmental practices. More on OECD decisions, recommendations and other instruments in force. Publications OECD publications are a prime vehicle for disseminating the Organisation's intellectual output. The OECD publishes regular outlooks, annual overviews and comparative statistics. Among them: OECD Economic Outlook assesses prospects for member and major non-member economies. OECD Factbook is a key reference tool for everyone working on economic and policy issues. OECD Economic surveys provide individual national analyses and policy recommendations. Going for Growth presents comparative indicators and evaluations of national performance.

Lets Talk Money The budget for 2007 was EUR 341.8 million, and the budget for 2008 is EUR 342.9 million. How we are funded The OECD is funded by its 30 member countries. National contributions are based on a formula which takes account of the size of each member's economy. The largest contributor is the United States, which provides nearly 25% of the budget, followed by Japan. With the approval of the Council, countries may also make voluntary contributions to special programmes or outputs not funded from the main budget. How the budget is managed The size of the OECD budget and its programme of work are determined on a two-year basis by member countries. The Organisation's planning, budgeting and management are all organised on a results-based system. A Board of Auditors is responsible for independent external control of the OECD's account and financial management. The Office of the Auditor-General was established in January 2003. The Board is made up of four members of national audit offices in member countries, named by the OECD Council. The Board certifies the accounts and the Council then approves the Secretary-General's management. Unlike the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund, the OECD does not dispense grants or make loans.

What They Have Done. Over the past decade, the OECD has tackled a range of economic, social, and environmental issues while further deepening its engagement with business, trade unions and other representatives of civil society. Negotiations at the OECD on taxation and transfer pricing, for example, have paved the way for bilateral tax treaties around the world. Between 1995 and 1997 the OECD designed the much disputed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) , which was rejected. A Swedish journalist discovered the agreement, which was until then clandestinely negotiated. It would have disburdened foreign investments of any claims on the part of the concerned regions and countries (also of social, environmental standards). Among other areas, the OECD has taken a role in co-ordinating international action on corruption and bribery, creating the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which came into effect in February 1999. The OECD has also constituted a task force on spam, which submitted a detailed report, with several quite useful background papers on spam problems in developing countries, best practices for ISPs and email marketers etc appended. It has published the OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030, that shows that tackling the key environmental problems we face today -- including climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity and the health impacts of pollution -- is both achievable and affordable. Its work on the information economy will lead it to organise the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of the Internet Economy -- Shaping Policies for Creativity, Confidence and Convergence in Seoul, 17-18 June 2008.

What Next?? In a rapidly-changing globalised economy, the OECD is changing too. The Organisation is reforming its management and addressing such issues as burden-sharing in the context of the OECD budget, rules on decision-making and how to respond to changes in the global economic environment by enlarging its membership. It is also renovating its Paris headquarters and building a new conference centre. All these efforts are directed towards making the OECD a more effective instrument of international co-operation.