Just like manufacturing in years past, the services sector is being reshaped by technological and economic change, BIAC said.  But overreaction could be ruinous.  “Just as low-wage China has not taken all of the manufacturing capability in OECD countries, low-wage India is not going to absorb all of our service sector production”, said Jin Roy Ryu, the newly elected BIAC chairman (see story below).

BIAC said governments need to implement policies to encourage economic growth, spur trade and thus offer companies the opportunity to create employment.  Global sourcing is not a zero-sum game, and in the end can bring many new opportunities for employment and growth to countries. To help business to adapt to these changes, governments must be ready to engage in necessary structural policy reforms.

Also at the ministerial, governments endorsed revised OECD principles on corporate governance.  Business welcomed the new principles as striking the right balance between different national corporate governance systems.  “Some level of diversity is necessary for the maintenance of an internationally competitive environment,” said BIAC.

For business, the fundamental goals of corporate governance are to improve the performance of companies and to guarantee shareholder rights.  These are the elements that help generate economic growth and job creation in OECD countries. “The often emotional discussion on corporate governance is not the right place for achieving other, broader policy objectives,” said BIAC.

Last-minute efforts by trade unions to inject far-reaching language on increased employee participation in the boards of companies were rejected by a majority of OECD members and the business community.