Seminar with the Secretary-General of the OECD, Angel Gurría

Mr. Gurría will hold a seminar, ”Tax and Growth: What Direction Should Sweden Take?” at the Stockholm School of Economics (Handelshögskolan i Stockholm) on April 22, where journalists are welcome. The OECD’s Secretary-General will put the current Swedish tax debate into a wider international context. How can tax systems become growth friendly, while also being fair and not excessively complex? How are OECD countries responding to a more competitive environment? Could income taxes be more conducive to employment, skill formation and risk taking associated with entrepreneurship? Mr. Gurría has worked closely with leading multilateral bodies, including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, to seek solutions to the Mexican debt crisis. Later, he participated in Mexico's negotiations on NAFTA and on accession to OECD, of which it has been a member since 1994. As Mexico's foreign minister and then finance minister between 1994 and 2000, he played a prominent role on the world stage, chairing OECD's 1999 Ministerial Council Meeting in which developing and emerging countries participated at Mexico's initiative for the first time. Mr. Gurría is also an active participant in various international not-for-profit bodies, including the Population Council, based in New York, and the Center for Global Development, an independent think tank based in Washington, and he is chair of the World Water Council's Task Force on Financing Water for All. As Secretary-General since June 2006, he has reinforced the OECD’s role as a forum for global dialogue and decision on economic policy issues while pursuing internal modernization and reform. Under his leadership, OECD has agreed to open membership talks with Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia and to strengthen links with other major emerging economies, including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa. During his leadership, and in response to a request from the G8, OECD has set up a platform for dialogue with Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa on innovation, freedom of investment, corporate social responsibility and development in Africa, and energy efficiency. The seminar is organized by the Stockholm School of Economics, Sustainability Research Group (SuRe), in cooperation with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Time: Tuesday, April 22nd, kl. 12:45-13:40 Venue: The Stockholm School of Economics (Handelshögskolan i Stockholm), Sveavägen 65, Aula RSVP not necessary, free admission. For more information, contact: Lin Lerpold, Stockholm School of Economics- SuRe tel. 08-736 9736 Martin Rahm, The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs tel. 08- 405 5766 Jan Joel Andersson, The Swedish Institute of International Affairs tel. 08-511 768 00