Publications & Documents

Kazakhstan’s trade performance has displayed remarkable resilience to recent economic shocks, including Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing international sanctions. However, connectivity remains one of the greatest challenges facing the country: its trade integration is limited by low density of settlement and economic activity, infrastructure bottlenecks, weaknesses in trade facilitation, and long distances to major markets; its economy still depends on a limited number of export commodities and a narrow range of trading partners. This report summarises the analytical guidance and capacity-building on export diversification in Kazakhstan provided by the OECD in 2022 and 2023. The report complements recent OECD work on trade connectivity in Central Asia, by focusing on practical aspects of export diversification identified in collaboration with the government of Kazakhstan: (i) how to develop export promotion policies for SMEs; (ii) how to design a one-stop shop for exporting SMEs; and (iii) how to improve cross-border co-operation in Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea ports.

The OECD’s Development Co-operation Profiles compile and analyse verified statistics and trends on how development assistance is allocated geographically, to sectors, multilateral and civil society organisations, cross-cutting priorities such as gender equality and women’s economic empowerment and the environment and climate, and to mobilise private finance. The profiles cover official and philanthropic providers of aid, official development assistance (ODA) and development finance. These providers include members of the OECD and its Development Assistance Committee (DAC), other countries and philanthropic foundations. The profiles also give an overview of key strategic and policy priorities for development co-operation, the institutional set-up and evaluation systems.

Informality is not a new phenomenon but today, in face of the multiplication of domestic and global shocks, the vulnerabilities associated with informal work and businesses are an undisputable hurdle to economic resilience and more inclusive and equal societies. Yet, certain policy measures implemented with the intention of addressing the consequences of crises on vulnerable groups in the society – groups that include informal workers and businesses – can unintentionally induce more informality, in a vicious cycle that makes formalisation and resilience even more difficult to reach. The report Informality and Structural Transformation in the Middle East and North Africa outlines a framework for assessing the impact of economic and social policies on informality. The framework was developed jointly by the ILO, OECD and UNDP, and is thought as a hands-on instrument, allowing policy makers to foresee early on in the policymaking cycles the effects diverse economic and social policies could have on the informal economy. This tool adds to the vast literature on informality. Understanding the expected impact of different policies on informality can help governments to identify measures that support their key objectives, e.g. helping firms in financial distress or expanding social protection, without altering motivations and incentives to formalisation.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has made significant headway on its development path over the past three decades. The country’s sustained economic growth has been led by booming commodity exports and substantial inflows of external financing. Many Laotians have seen significant improvements in their well-being. Poverty has declined as household income has increased, and many important development goals in education and health have been achieved. In the face of macroeconomic challenges, a shift from commodity-driven growth to a more inclusive prosperity paradigm that emphasises the creation of broad-based opportunities, human capital development and green sustainability can unlock Lao PDR’s future development. This report presents priorities for overcoming the country’s current fiscal constraints and finding ways to fund this shift. Recommendations address strengthening Lao PDR’s sustainable finance and debt management, revenue generation and tax reform, investment promotion, and data capacity in order to tap into green finance mechanisms.

The report outlines the aggregate trends in annual climate finance provided and mobilised by developed countries for climate action in developing countries over the period 2013-2022. It presents these trends by source of finance, climate theme, sector, income group and type of financial instrument. Additionally, the report explores adaptation finance trends in relation to the Glasgow Pact's call for developed countries to double adaptation finance by 2025 and offers insights into the growing significance of multilateral providers in the climate finance landscape.

This report looks back at 15 years of tax and development work at the OECD charting the evolution of the OECD’s engagement with, and inclusion of, developing countries in its tax work from 2009 to 2024. Beginning with the restructuring of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in 2009, through the BEPS Actions, the establishment of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS and negotiations on the Two Pillar Solution to Address the Tax Challenges of the Digitalising Economy, it shows how OECD initiatives have combined the momentum for multilateral tax co-operation with the increased focus on taxation in international development, to develop a range of tools, instruments and forums with wide participation from developing counties. Accompanying the move to multilateralism in tax matters, the OECD has also sought to increase the availability of data on taxation, for example through the Global Revenue Statistics Database, and support more integrated tax and development policy thinking, for example on the taxation of development assistance. Concurrently there has been a continuous growth in the OECD capacity building activities, now reaching over 30,000 officials in over 100 countries annually. Notable among these initiatives is the groundbreaking joint OECD/UNDP Tax Inspectors Without Borders initiative. The report features several case studies highlighting the impacts across various countries, as well as the wide range of partnerships forged by the OECD to harness taxation’s potential in advancing sustainable development.

The OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) conducts peer reviews of individual members once every five to six years. Reviews seek to improve the quality and effectiveness of members’ development co-operation, highlighting good practices and recommending improvements. Fourteen years after joining the DAC in 2010, Korea is at a pivotal juncture as it rapidly scales up official development assistance (ODA) and assumes more global responsibility. The 2020 revision of the Framework Act signals a more coherent, cross-government approach to implement a larger budget. There is potential to bring greater coherence between domestic and international policies supported by legislation on sustainable development. This peer review provides a set of recommendations for Korea to strengthen strategic partnerships and dialogue with partners, and use the cross-government capacity review and evaluations to prioritise larger ODA volumes to implementers. It recommends that Korea increase the number of qualified staff working in development across government, delegate more authority to partner country offices, and increase its risk appetite to expand private sector operations.

By 2030, between five and twelve Small Island Developing States (SIDS) could lose eligibility to – i.e. graduate from – official development assistance (ODA) as they reach high-income status. Unless other sources of finance effectively fill the gap left by their high dependence on ODA, those SIDS may suffer socio-economic setbacks and be worse-off after graduation. This may have broad negative consequences, given their geostrategic importance and role in the preservation of oceans and biodiversity. To help SIDS 'graduate to success', donors should use multidimensional vulnerability indices (MVIs) to better tailor their support, and engage with them through new graduation strategies.

These Development Co-operation Principles for Relevant and Effective Support to Media and the Information Environment are a product of the Development Assistance Committee’s Network on Governance. The Principles aim to respond to the need to ensure that the international response to the crisis in the media sector fits better in a rapidly changing information environment. The Principles were informed by an inclusive consultation process and strongly driven by members and partner organisations.