Investment Committee (IC) Mr. Manfred Schekulin
1. What is the mission and mandate of your Committee? The mission of the Investment Committee is to "promote investment for inclusive growth and sustainable development through international co-operation and policy reform". Consistent with this, the overarching objective carrying through all of the Committee’s work relates to the social and economic impact of international investment, and the activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs), including a focus on: • better understanding of the factors that shape inward and outward investment trends; • strengthening of policies ensuring transparency, non-discrimination and at the same time, a positive social impact of inward and outward investment; • ensuring that investment policies contribute effectively to efforts to address global challenges and goals (e.g. climate change and the SDGs). 2. You have been designated Committee Chair. What is your background and what has convinced you to take up this post? How do you consider your background and experience contribute to such a role and function? I spent most of my career in trade and investment policy. In 2004, when I was first elected Chair of the Investment Committee, my position was Director for Export and Investment Policy, today it is Director for Trade and Competition Policy Analysis and Strategies at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs. And I know/knew the OECD well: in 2004, I had already been Austrian delegate to the CIME (Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises), one of the predecessors of the IC, for 10 years, including during the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment) negotiations, and instrumental in the 2000 review of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (MNE) and in the merger of the CIME and CMIT (Committee on Capital Movements and Invisible Transactions) that led to the creation of the Investment Committee in 2004. 3. What is your main priority as Chair? • To ensure that the OECD approach to investment policy is at the forefront of international best practices; • to further enhance the global impact of the OECD’s work in the area of investment, capital movements and responsible business conduct; • (for which it is necessary) to keep the OECD investment instruments relevant with regular updates and continuous implementation. 4. How would you define the added value of your Committee in relation to the work of the OECD in an international context? How does it differ from other international fora dealing with the same topic? The defining feature of the IC is the unique combination of legal instruments, functioning implementation mechanisms and vibrant policy debate. Regarding instruments: the recently updated OECD Codes of
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