Stockholm Waterfront Congress Centre
23 – 24 May

The Forum on Tax Administration - Tax Commissioners from 45 countries - has been meeting in Moscow for the past two days. And released this comuniqué.

Provisional estimates show that quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD area fell by 0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2012, after a 0.3% increase in the previous quarter. This is the first contraction of GDP in the OECD area since the very sharp decline in the first quarter of 2009 (minus 2.3%).

Russia’s official statistics are compiled with a high a degree of professionalism and now have a solid legal basis, but their scope, timeliness and international comparability needs to be improved, according to an initial assessment by the OECD.

Boosting private sector investment in sustainable transport infrastructure will be essential as governments seek to meet long-term economic and environmental objectives at a time of constrained public finances, according to a new OECD report.

Cities can generate growth and jobs while becoming greener – this is the message of the OECD’s new Green Growth in Cities report. Drawing on case studies of Paris, Chicago, Kitakyushu and Stockholm, the report identifies green policies that can respond to urban growth priorities and suggests how to implement and finance them.

The OECD will publish its latest Economic Outlook, containing analysis and projections for its member countries and other major economies, at 11.00 a.m. Paris time (09.00 GMT) on Wednesday 29 May 2012.

Technological advances, less costly shipping and trade liberalisation have transformed the way in which companies make products and distribute them worldwide. Governments that become more open to trade and investment, and encourage innovation will help firms better integrate the global value chains that are driving growth in increasingly interconnected economies, according to new OECD research.

A High Level Expert Group is to be set up to continue the work of the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission on Measuring Economic Performance and Social Progress.

The OECD today launched a 3.0 version of its pioneering Better Life Index, an interactive tool that allows people to create their own index according to their priorities in 11 areas that the OECD has identified as essential for well-being. The updated version contains the latest underlying statistics, country data, user findings and a translation into Spanish.