On 2 June in cooperation with the OECD Investment Committee and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Business at OECD organised a high-level side event during the 2026 OECD Ministerial Council Meeting on “Building Confidence in Global Markets: Ensuring OECD Investment Standards and Policies Stay Fit for Purpose” held in context of the 50th Anniversary of the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. The discussion brought together senior business leaders and policymakers to explore how the OECD’s investment instruments can continue to support open and predictable investment frameworks amid rising geopolitical tensions, economic security concerns, and industrial policy developments.
Opening the discussion, our Chair Rick Johnston highlighted that the OECD investment architecture needs to be updated to remain a critical anchor for predictability and international cooperation. As governments increasingly deploy investment screening mechanisms, export controls and industrial policy tools, Business at OECD outlined three key priorities for the OECD’s future work. First, the OECD should modernise its guidance on investment and national security, including by reviewing the 2009 OECD Guidelines for Recipient Country Investment Policies relating to national security and providing practical guidance to ensure measures remain targeted, proportionate and supportive of investment. The OECD should also strengthen evidence-based analysis of economic security policies by benchmarking national approaches and assessing their impact on investment flows, competitiveness, and global value chains. Finally, industrial policies should remain compatible with open and rules-based investment frameworks. The OECD has an important role to play in helping governments pursue strategic objectives while avoiding fragmentation, market distortions and unnecessary barriers to international investment.