Anthony Gooch, Director for Public Affairs and Communications of the OECD welcomed the participants to the first session on Forging a New Consensus for Economic, Social and Environmental Progress.
Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD delivered introductory remarks on the economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that ensuring equitable access to vaccines is foundational for economic recovery. He warned the participants about the risks of the increasing inequality between countries and stressed the need for global cooperation to ensure a widespread distribution of vaccines. Mr. Gurría highlighted the importance of exchanging knowledge and best practices with Members of Parliament to ensure an inclusive recovery.
During the Q&A session, the attendees expressed several concerns regarding the current global situation such as the delivery of vaccines and the need to prepare an resilient recovery from the pandemic. Hon. Miguel Matos MP spoke about intergenerational responsibility and protecting the livelihoods of future generations. Olfa Soukri Cherif, former Board Member of the Parliamentary Network stressed the need for investing in education and boosting international solidarity.
During the session on the Path to a Sustainable and Inclusive Recovery, Laurence Boone, OECD Chief and Stefano Scarpetta, Director for Employment, Labour, and Social Affairs spoke about the importance of economic policies and debt management in the aftermath of COVID-19 and highlighted the lessons learned on handling unemployment shocks from previous crises. Mr. Boone encouraged parliamentarians to think about debt beyond the pandemic, explaining that the rates of debt as a percentage of GDP have been rising for the past five decades putting at risk the sustainability of public finance.
Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of Centre for the Tax Policy and Administration addressed the participants during the special session of the Parliamentary group on Taxes. He provided an update to Members of Parliament on the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS), stressing the need for a harmonized global tax framework to combat global rising inequalities.
The following day, the first sessions centered around cooperation on COVID-19 vaccine distribution and resilience of health systems, with introductory remarks delivered by Mark Pearson, OECD Deputy Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs and Francesca Colombo, OECD Head of the Health Division.
During the session on Co-operating on Vaccines, Mr. Pearson spoke about the global panorama of international cooperation on vaccines. He highlighted the importance of international mechanisms for vaccine procurement such as COVAX in achieving an inclusive and collective recovery.
The Hon. Ricardo B. Leite MP, Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & IMF spoke about his experience as a medical doctor and a parliamentarian. He warned about the dangers of delayed vaccination campaigns by explaining that the longer it takes to vaccinate the more variants could appear, putting at risk all the progress made.
Mr. Leite stressed the importance of global action since no one will be safe until everyone is safe, implying that all the achievements in the advanced economies are at risk to be undermined if we don’t vaccinate middle- and lower-income countries. He closed his statement by highlighting the role of research and development of vaccines in building preparedness for future pandemics.