OECD co-operation with Brazil

BRAZILACTIVE WITH

BRAZIL: an active key partner for the OECD

The OECD is proud to have Brazil as a Key Partner. Over the past two decades,

Brazil has been a source of valuable policy experience, as it has moved up

the ranks of the worlds largest economies. Most importantly, it has done so

while tackling both poverty and inequality, something very few countries

have previously achieved.

While Brazil has maintained high levels of employment, growth has slowed down in recent years, underlining the

need to boost productivity and cost competitiveness. This requires measures to address infrastructure bottlenecks,

continue to raise education attainment and the performance of students, boost labour force skills, streamline the tax

system and reduce regulatory complexity. For Brazil, as for many other major economies today, further economic and

social progress implies continued efforts to go structural, go social, go green and go institutional.

The Brazilian government has demonstrated strong commitment in facing these challenges and the OECD stands ready

to support the related reforms. Our expertise in a wide range of policy areas and the strength of a network of global

policy communities are all at Brazils disposal. Our partnership extends to many policy areas, and includes joint work on

international fora, such as the G20. This brochure illustrates the mutually beneficial character of our co-operation, as we

benefit from Brazils perspectives in finding joint solutions to common global challenges.

Brazil participates actively in a number of key OECD Committees, as well as in various areas of OECD work, including

our initiatives to reshape economic thinking (New Approaches to Economic Challenges, NAEC), and to foster inclusive

and sustainable growth. It is now Vice-Chair of the Governing Board of PISA and of the OECD Steel Committee, and its

leadership has also opened avenues of dialogue with the rest of Latin America. This year, for example, two important

regional high-level meetings were hosted in Brazil in the field of skills development, which has encouraged other

Latin American countries to participate in the third round of the adult skills survey, PIAAC.

We look forward to strengthening and broadening this fruitful collaboration, to help design and implement better

policies for better lives for all Brazilians.

ANGEL GURRA, OECD Secretary-General

CONTENTS . 1

INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION 29

Building a knowledge-based economy 30

Promoting a viable global steel industry 31

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY 32

Promoting sustainable development 33

Improving energy strategy 34

Enhancing nuclear energy and other applications 35

Strengthening chemical and transgenic safety 36

Promoting good water governance 37

A GLOBAL AND REGIONAL PLAYER 38

Partnering with Latin America 39

Promoting effective development co-operation 41

Finding global solutions at the G20 42

Reaching out to the business community, foundations

and trade unions 44

ANNEXES

Instruments: facilitating international coordination 46

Brazils participation in OECD bodies

and related organisations 47

THE OECD AND BRAZIL 2

SUSTAINABLE, BALANCED AND INCLUSIVE GROWTH 6

Strengthening economic growth 7

Increasing agricultural productivity and food security 9

Promoting green growth 10

Upgrading participation in global value chains 11

SMOOTH FUNCTIONING OF MARKETS 12

Promoting trade 13

Promoting sound competition 14

Strengthening consumer protection 15

PUBLIC AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 16

Enhancing the business environment 17

Improving tax transparency and compliance 18

Enhancing budgeting and public expenditure efficiency 20

EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 21

Creating jobs 22

Promoting social and territorial cohesion 23

Educating and empowering new generations

with the right skills 24

Tackling gender inequality 26

Measuring better lives 27

CO

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Contents

THE OECD AND BRAZIL

2 . ACTIVE WITH BRAZIL

L Aloizio Mercadante, Minister Chief of

Staff of the Presidency and Angel Gurra,

Secretary-General of the OECD at the

presentation of PISA 2013. October 2013,

Brasilia, Brazil. 1. World Bank, 2012

With a GDP of US$2.4 trillion1, Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America and the seventh economy of the world.

Brazil is one of five major emerging economies with which the OECD has established a key partnership, together with

China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. The mutually beneficial Brazil-OECD relationship has been evolving

steadily and favourably since the mid-1990s.

Brazil is an active Key Partner of the OECD. The country participates in the substantive work of many of the OECDs specialised Committees, where senior officials from member and partner countries meet to advance ideas and review progress in specific policy areas.

Brazil is an Associate, i.e. participating on equal footing with OECD members, in seven OECD bodies, and is vice-chair of two of them, the Governing Board of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Steel Committee. This reflects the leadership Brazil has developed in these fields and is an important signal of its strong engagement with the policy dialogue that occurs in these and other OECD bodies. In addition, Brazil is a Participant in another eleven OECD bodies (see Annex).

Brazil has also engaged in a productive dialogue with the OECD in the framework of the G20, which has resulted in initiatives such as the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project. It is an active contributor to the New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) initiative, an organisation-wide reflection process on the causes of the 2008 financial crisis and the lessons for the future. Brazil strongly contributes to the OECDs statistical databases and encourages the wide availability of OECD information and databases for public servants, researchers and students through a specific agreement which provides OECD iLibrary access to 200 Brazilian institutions.

Minister Mercadante, who is now Minister Chief of Staff of the Presidency, promoted an active engagement with the OECD as Minister of Education. In November 2013, after having given a welcoming reception to the Secretary General in Brasilia, he visited the OECD headquarters in Paris and shared with OECD ambassadors, directors and staff Brazils advances in education reform and his views on the OECD-Brazil cooperation.

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Brazil has been engaged in bringing its own development perspective to the OECD. Brazilian society, as so many of our international partners, aims at continued economic growth with social justice - and, as is only too natural, this is what moves us in our participation in the OECD. The OECD has already started a review of its analytical models so as to better account for the interplay of economic efficiency and social inclusion, as well as for the possible trade-offs implied by structural reforms. I firmly believe that we would all benefit from the improvement of our analytical tools and from the increasing diversification of policy views in the joint activities carried out by the Organisation.

Jos Maurcio Bustani, Ambassador of Brazil to France

We have all witnessed the rise of Brazil as a major economic player in the global arena, one that has done so with a remarkable combination of economic growth enhancing and social inclusion policies. The ambitious reform agenda of Brazil, not least on successfully combating poverty, improving access to well-being at large, is therefore very relevant for current discussions that are taking place within the OECD, particularly on what relates to attain sustainable growth, addressing inequalities and creating jobs. Also outstanding improvements were made in the fields of education/skills and the responsible use of natural resources. Our bilateral cooperation, based on best policies/best practices sharing, and reliable comparative data and evidenced-based analysis, is a natural win-win. I am fully confident that our dedicated Informal Reflection Group will contribute further to living up to this very promising partnership.

Paulo Vizeu Pinheiro, Ambassador of Portugal to the OECD, Chair of the Informal Reflection Group on Brazil

L Left to Right: Alozio Mercadante, Brazilian Minister Chief of Staff, Paulo Vizeu Pinheiro, Ambassador of Portugal to the OECD, Marcos Bonturi, Director of the OECD

Global Relations Secretariat and Angel Gurra, Secretary-General of the OECD Secretary-General, OECD Headquarters, Paris, November 2013.

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In order to keep playing a key role in global governance, the OECD must adapt to globalisation and strengthen its relations with the rest of the world, especially developing countries. In this context, Brazil, which plays a growing role on the international scene, is a major partner for the OECD. Cooperation with this country is undoubtedly a priority for our Organisation.

Pascale Andreani, Ambassador of France to the OECD, Chair of the External Relations Committee (which oversees the Organisations overall global relations)

The OECDs Global Relations Strategy seeks to make the Organisation a more effective and inclusive global policy network, through close co-operat