Greater collaboration between Commonwealth and OECD is welcomed

Global concerns, including climate change and food security, cannot be overcome unless both developed and developing countries work together, according to the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

This places the Commonwealth, which comprises the world’s richest and poorest countries, in a unique position to help address these global challenges, he argued.

“If the OECD and the Commonwealth say things together we may also have a greater impact,” Angel Gurria added during a meeting with Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith at Marlborough House, London, on 1 July 2008.

Mr Smith welcomed the prospect of working more closely with the OECD and agreed that there is great value in a strong relationship between the two organisations.

“A close working relationship would be hugely beneficial for both the Commonwealth and the OECD,” he said.

A number of areas of mutual interest where closer collaboration would be beneficial were examined during the meeting, ranging from debt management to anti-money laundering projects.

The two organisations have in the past co-operated in a number of areas such as debt management and gender equity. The Secretariat has enjoyed observer status on the OECD/DAC GENDERNET, an international forum where gender experts from development co-operation agencies meet to define common approaches in support of gender equality.

Mr Smith concurred with the OECD Secretary General that there had been good progress in the OECD sub-group addressing taxation competition. He said the forum established to foster co-operation in this area had helped guide fair competition in international financial services. An important issue for many developing countries was the financing of the cost of compliance in such areas as tax information exchange agreements.

Deputy Secretary-General Smith then briefed Mr Gurria on the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government mini-summit on the reform of global institutions, held recently at the Commonwealth’s headquarters and chaired by the UK’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Mr Gurria responded that the OECD is also looking at international institutions and that the “question of governance” was a key factor for him within this debate.

Mr Smith informed OECD’s Secretary-General that senior officials from around the Commonwealth recently met to prepare for the Third High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana scheduled for 2 to 4 September 2008.

He noted that many Commonwealth members were keen to deliver improvements in aid delivery and its effectiveness but that stronger commitment to the objectives of the declaration by donors was needed.

There was also concern within the Commonwealth, Mr Smith shared, that the requirements on donors - especially on untying of aid - were not specific enough.

Both organisations will be attending the Accra meeting and agreed to discuss this and other matters as part of measures to strengthen co-operation.

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