FIU, Alm.del - 2011-12 - Bilag 162: Invitation til OECD Forum 2012 d. 22.-23. maj i Paris

I would like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to OECD Forum 2012 (www.oecdforum.org) whichwill take place on 22-23 May in the OECD Conference Centre, Paris.The OECD Forum, which is held back-to-back with the Ministerial Council meeting on 23-24 May, hasbecome a notable feature on the international calendar. It gathers high-level speakers from all stakeholder groups —government ministers, CEOs, heads of NGOs, academia and trade unions — and attracts a high-quality audience ofsome 1 500 invited participants. In addition to networking at the event, social media, blogs and international mediaare used to reach a range of audiences worldwide.Tackling inequality, inclusive growth and generating trustwill be the cross-cutting themes of OECDForum 2012. The recent surge in social movements across the world is a clear call for an economy that is betterbalanced and more ethical. Inequality was rising before the global financial crisis and has further increased,especially in countries where long-term unemployment has risen sharply. With more than 200 million peopleworldwide now out of work, creating jobs is vital, but it is not enough. People aspire to a society that allows them tothrive and prosper. Expectations for better public and private sector governance are rising. At a time whengovernments are designing strategies to restore long-term, inclusive growth, we need to respond to these aspirationsand link economic growth with broader, societal progress.TheOECD Economic Outlookwill be launched during the Forum. Other key issues on the agenda include:Inclusive growth:How can we redesign tax and benefit systems, labour markets, education and trainingsystems in ways that will contribute toreducing inequality,while sustaining growth and employment? This task ismade even more difficult in today’s environment of fiscal constraints.Youth:Young people face significant barriers to finding worthwhile employment. In finding solutions, currentpolicies must be reviewed and new options created, together with policy reforms in social, employment, educationand other sectors to allow these initiatives to succeed.Middle Classes:Long standing systems of value and safety, core to the middle classes, have beenshattered by the crisis. Home ownership, educational opportunities, secure retirement, stable jobs and social mobilityare threatened. At the same time, the middle classes in new and emerging economies are growing and they have the

same needs for services such as education, healthcare and social security. However, the high level of economicgrowth in new and emerging economies has not necessarily led to improvements in standards of living.Better Life Index:The OECD will be launching an updatedBetter Life Index(BLI), integrating newdimensions on gender and inequality; adding new indicators on sustainability; creating time series to draw long-termcomparisons between data; and extending the geographical dimension by including additional countries(http://oecdbetterlifeindex.org/).Gender:Women and men have different preferences and varying incentives when making decisions aboutstudying, working and caring for their families. The OECD will be launching aGender Initiativeto strengthen genderequality in education, employment and entrepreneurship, three crucial dimensions of economic opportunity.Skills:Skills are of critical importance in today’s workplace. During the crisis, job losses amongst skilledworkers have been lower than those of unskilled workers, demonstrating that in a globally competitive, knowledge-based economy, a skilled workforce is necessary to ensure productivity and sustainable growth. These concerns areat the heart of theOECD Skills Strategy,to be launched in May 2012.Development:How can policy makers contribute effectively to inclusive and sustainable growth for thelargest number of countries? The OECD will be launching a newStrategy on Developmentwhich will look intoinnovative and sustainable sources of growth; mobilising resources for development; good governance; andmeasuring progress for development.You will find the most relevant moments from the OECD Forum 2011 in theHighlightsmagazinewhich wehope will whet your appetite for this year’s event.On behalf of the OECD, I would like to invite the Finance Committee of the Danish Parliament to contributeto the Forum debates. If you wish to take advantage of this invitation, please send an email indicating the names ofinterested Committee members to[email protected].I look forward to seeing you at the OECD Forum.Yours sincerely,