OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría presents new OECD studies with economic and social recommendations to Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski | WPN World People News

Economic and social reforms undertaken over the past two decades have driven Peruvian efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth and important reductions in poverty. Against a context of weak global growth, Peru will need to diversify its economy, boost skills, reinforce productivity across the labour force and unleash the potential of all regions in order to spur more inclusive national growth, according to new analysis presented by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on October 14.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría and Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski discussed the implementation of the OECD Country Programme with Peru, in support of the country’s ongoing economic, governance and social reform. The President and Mr. Gurría opened the Foro Perú OCDE 2016, where experts will reflect on Peru’s reform agenda on the basis of the studies and policy recommendations included in the OECD reviews.

“The OECD and Peru engaged in a fruitful dialogue on the direction and design of public policies, and we are extremely encouraged by the results to date,” Mr. Gurría said. “Our objectives in the Peru Country Programme are in line with those of President Kuczynski and his government, and have the main goal of improving public policies for more inclusive growth. We are pleased to report today on new areas of policy analysis, including economic diversification, territorial development, public governance and skills and vocational training. We are encouraged by the commitment of the Peruvian government to collaborate with the OECD, and expect this fruitful relationship to continue and expand in the coming years.”

The OECD Country Programme with Peru was launched in December 2014. It includes 19 projects in a broad range of policy areas, with several policy reviews analysing challenges met in various areas such as the effectiveness and integrity of the public sector, vocational training, skills, youth employment, health, statistics and environmental policy.

Through the Country Programme, Peru adheres to selected OECD legal instruments and initiatives, such as the Declaration on Propriety, Integrity and Transparency (PIT) or the Anti-Bribery Convention. Peru has been a member of the OECD Development Centre since 2009 and it participates actively in several OECD committees and working groups, for example the Policy Dialogue on Global Value Chains for Production Transformation and Development and the Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-based Development.

Four reviews included in the OECD-Peru Country Programme were presented by the Secretary-General to President Kuczynski:

Volume 2 of the Multidimensional Country Review on Peru notes that economic diversification towards promising new sectors including agro-industry, manufacturing and tourism is necessary, and will require new and increasing efforts to boost productivity. It also points out the importance of improving the transport sector, where costs far above those seen in OECD countries are holding back trade and regional development. And it highlights the need to continue reform efforts to reduce the scope of the informal sector, which today still covers 70% of all workers. The Review provides key recommendations in each of these three domains, highlighting that better management of commodity-based resources is necessary to increase economic diversification.; effective investment in research and development at the regional level and strategic planning is critical to boost productivity and innovation; the implementation of a national transport agenda supporting multimodality and better use of existing logistics can help reduce transport costs; and a comprehensive agenda including better labour market regulation, effective skills and lower formalisation costs is instrumental to promote and boost formal jobs.

The Public Governance Review of Peru identifies where the government performs well alongside those areas where it could improve to ensure the design and delivery of strategic policy and public services that sustain better outcomes for people and businesses. The Review examines co-ordination from the centre of government, evidence-based strategic planning and the decentralisation process to improve co-ordination across levels of government. It assesses the management of the civil service, legal and regulatory frameworks to implement digital government, and open-government and transparency policies. And it provides recommendations to assist the government bolster its agility in setting, steering and implementing a national medium-term strategy for achieving inclusive growth and prosperity for all.

The Territorial Review of Peru suggests that solutions for Peru’s productivity and diversification challenges will be enhanced through a more comprehensive approach to managing the development of the country’s diverse regions, cities and rural areas, most of which are not very well-connected and have widely-differing sources and potential for growth. Realising this regional growth potential will require integrated policies that are tailored to the specific circumstances of these places and can simultaneously improve skills, innovation, infrastructure and the business environment. According to this report, better prioritisation of public investment and the integration of these priorities within fiscal frameworks in partnership with sub-national governments should be a key priority, in addition to improving sub-national finance and improving the system of territorial statistics.

Skills Beyond School – Vocational Education and Training Review recognises that vocational education and training (VET) is crucial to developing a highly-skilled labour force. Peru is shown to have an extensive array of VET programmes, with over 2000 mostly private VET providers, and steadily increasing enrolments. While Peruvians have demonstrated a keen interest in developing their skills, and some VET programmes provide very high-quality vocational education and training, the new Review offers ample evidence that existing programmes and institutions are falling short of meeting the country’s needs. A combination of well-crafted public policies and strategic investments can help better steer VET institutions toward high-quality offerings, facilitate student transitions along education and career pathways, empower students, and broaden access to groups that are currently unable to participate because of financial or other constraints.

The OECD Secretary-General’s visit to Lima included his participation in the annual meeting of APEC Finance Ministers as well as bilateral discussions with President Kuczynski and various members of the government.

The Paris-based OECD is an international organisation that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people worldwide. It provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to the economic, social, and governance challenges they face.

The OECD's 35 members are: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Three countries – Colombia, Costa Rica and Lithuania – have been formally invited to become members of the Organisation, and are currently in the process of accession. The OECD established Country Programmes in 2013 as a new instrument for supporting dynamic, emerging economies in designing their reforms and strengthening public policies. Peru is one of three partner economies - along with Kazakhstan and Morocco - to have been invited in 2014 to undertake a Country Programme.

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development