Reports

Ukraine’s post-Maidan authorities have embarked upon an ambitious reform programme to improve the country’s framework for investment and strengthen the country as an attractive investment destination. This review, which was prepared in close cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities in response to their 2011 request to adhere to the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises (OECD Declaration), analyses the general investment framework as well as recent reform, and shows where further efforts are necessary. It assesses Ukraine’s ability to comply with the principles of openness, transparency and non-discrimination and its policy convergence with international investment standards such as the OECD Declaration. In light of the recently updated OECD Policy Framework for Investment, it also studies other areas such as investment promotion and facilitation, infrastructure development; financial sector development and responsible business conduct practices. In the scarcely two years since a new attempt at economic reforms was launched in earnest, Ukraine has made quite important progress in introducing a modern legal framework for investment. But additional efforts are required in some policy areas to reaffirm Ukraine’s attractiveness for investors. 

This review assesses the overall investment climate in the Philippines, looking at investment policy, investment promotion and facilitation, competition policy, infrastructure investment and responsible business conduct. The Review documents successful reform episodes over the past 25 years in the Philippines, assesses their impact and suggests areas for further reforms. It looks at how to raise investment levels by both foreign and domestic enterprises and at how to ensure that such investment contributes to sustainable and inclusive growth. The current macroeconomic situation in the Philippines is favourable, remittances are high, the business process outsource industry is booming, and the new Competition Act will help to make the domestic market more competitive. The Review argues for one further reform push to ease the many restrictions on foreign investors in the Philippines so as to provide an investment climate where all firms can invest and grow.

This book provides a comprehensive assessment of the innovation policy of Luxembourg. It is the second such OECD review of Luxembourg's innovation system, following an earlier review published in 2007. Since that time, the system has undergone profound change, notably a rapid expansion in the scale and scope of public sector research, which offers new opportunities for Luxembourg, but also new challenges for innovation policy. The review focuses on the role of government and includes concrete recommendations on how to improve policies that affect innovation and R&D performance.

With 25 years of sluggish economic growth, Japan’s per capita income has fallen from a level matching the average of the top half of OECD countries in the early 1990s to 14% below that today. Weak growth, together with rapid population ageing, has driven public debt into uncharted territory. Revitalising growth is thus the top priority for the Japanese government. With the labour force shrinking more rapidly than the population, per capita output can only grow through improvements in labour productivity and labour force participation. Japan’s highly-skilled labour force and its technological leadership can help close the gap with leading OECD countries in per capita income. But broad-based structural reforms, as envisaged in the third arrow of Abenomics, are needed to allow these strengths to fully achieve their potential. The initial impact of Abenomics in 2013 was impressive, and the reform process needs to continue.

Since the start of the economic reform process in the 70s China has been able to generate a large volume of investment, both from domestic and foreign sources. This high volume of investment was instrumental in sustaining strong economic growth and related improvements in living standards. However, this growth model is not longer sustainable. Returns on investment have fallen, excessive capacity is plaguing several sectors and the negative externalities have been very onerous, notably in terms of environmental degradation and rising income inequality. A key objective of the Chinese government is therefore to move the economy towards a more balanced, sustainable and inclusive growth path as envisaged by the 13th Five-Year Plan. In this adjustment process, the country is seeking new approaches for smarter, greener and more productive investment. This will require mutually reinforcing reforms to improve investment planning, rebalance the role of government and market forces, mainstream responsible business conduct and encourage greater private investment, especially in green infrastructure. China’s growing role as an outward investor may act as catalyser for the required reforms at home, as Chinese private and state-owned enterprises have to adopt internationally recognised practices and standards .

This series helps countries to identify and overcome binding constraints to achieving higher levels of well-being and more equitable and sustainable growth. The Development Pathways are based on Multi-dimensional Country Reviews, which take into account policy interactions and the country-specific policy environment through three phases. The first phase comprises an initial assessment of the constraints to development. The second phase involves an in-depth analysis of the main issues resulting in detailed policy recommendations. The third phase is designed to move from paper to action and to support government efforts in developing strategies and implementing policy recommendations.

Since the return to democracy in 1999, Nigeria has embarked upon an ambitious reform programme towards greater economic openness and liberalisation. As a result, gross domestic product growth picked up consistently, never going below 5% since 2003. Nigeria has become a top recipient of foreign direct investment in Africa, with inflows having surpassed those to South Africa since 2009. The federal government’s Transformation Agenda recognises private sector development as the main engine for economic growth and includes bold investment reforms. Growth has however not yet been translated into inclusive development and the investment climate still suffers from severe challenges. This Investment Policy Review examines Nigeria’s investment policies in light of the OECD Policy Framework for Investment (PFI), a tool to mobilise investment in support of economic growth and sustainable development. It provides an assessment and policy recommendations on different areas of the PFI: investment policy; investment promotion and facilitation; trade policy; infrastructure investment; competition; corporate governance and financial sector development. It also includes a special chapter analysing the PFI in Lagos State. The Review follows on the request addressed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment of Nigeria to the OECD Secretary-General in December 2011. It has been prepared in close co-operation with the Federal Government of Nigeria and Lagos State Government.