Luncheon Report
As the official representative of his country, Ambassador Roel Nieuwenkamp began by speaking about the areas in which Argentina and the Netherlands are working together. He showed the Dutch companies currently present in Argentina. Then he went on to the main topic of the day: the Organization of Cooperation and Development (OECD). He explained that the main goal of the organization is to Create Better Policies for Better Lives through action in eight areas: Arbitration, Tax Avoidance and Evasion, Corporate Responsibility, Education, Statistics, Good Governance, Public Ethics and Country Assessments. He noted that Argentina and Brazil are among a long line of prospective members but explained that the vetting process takes a long time since each applicant’s policies have to be re- viewed in great detail and brought in line with OECD standards before acceptance is granted. The final decision also depends on political consideration, open economies being favored.
In reality, the OECD is not able to enforce its goals on member countries but it can exert pressure when presented with a problem. One such situation dealt with the natural habitat of gorillas in the Congo, whose environment, a UNESCO Natural Heritage site, was selected by an oil company for drill- ing. The OECD along with UNESCO and the World Wild Life Fund were able to put pressure on the company involved so that it eventually chose a different site for drilling purposes. Another area where the OECD was involved was with the FIFA’s choice of Qatar as the seat of the 2022 World Cup; Qatar has been heavily criticized for its total disrespect for the human rights of those working on the installations there, which has led to multiple deaths and injuries. So although the OECD has no direct sway in non-member countries, it can take action if a dispute in a non-member country involves a company or other body from a member country.
submitted by Patricia Caviezel
Luncheon Announcement
After studying Economics, Law and Philosophy at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Prof Dr. Roel Nieuwenkamp worked at the European Commission, was a consultant in New Zealand and for several years a management consultant at Arthur Andersen.
In 1998 he became interim manager at the Netherlands Ministry of Education and from 2001 until August 2006 was managing director of the Entrepreneurship Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Between September 2006 and May 2013 Roel was managing director of the International Trade Policy & Economic Governance Department at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs with responsibilities in trade policy (WTO), in- vestment policy, corporate responsibility, and the regulation of trade in weapons and strategic goods. He chaired the OECD Working Party on International Investment and the sensitive negotiations on the 2011 revision of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, later also chairing the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, the intergovernmental committee overseeing implementation of the Guidelines covering sectoral programmes for the financial, mining, garment, and agricultural sectors. He also chaired the Net- work of National Contact Points for Responsible Business Conduct, the unique grievance mechanism under the OECD Guidelines.
Roel wrote his PhD dissertation on the interaction between ministers and top civil servants and from 2010 to 2014 was part-time Professor of Public Administration at the University of Amsterdam. He continues to teach at several universities.
Roel has been the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay since August 2018.
*OECD: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development