Slovenian President attends 3rd OECD World Forum on Measuring the Progress of Societies

Busan, 27.10.2009  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, at the invitation of the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Angel Gurría, attended the 3rd OECD World Forum on "Statistics, Knowledge and Policy – Charting Progress, Building Visions, Improving Life", held in Busan, South Korea. President Türk delivered a keynote address at the opening session of the Forum.

In his speech, Dr Türk emphasised that measuring the progress of societies was of crucial importance for development and, indirectly, for political stability and peace. He stressed that in times of sluggish economic growth and high unemployment, GDP is an insufficient criterion for measuring social progress, let alone for the assessment of implementation of economic, social and cultural rights. Human rights, such as the right to work, the right to education and the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health can only be implemented progressively, while the society, according to the President, should protect the most vulnerable social groups during times of recession.

In shaping comprehensive national development policies, such indicators as income distribution and participation in decision-making should be taken into consideration. The President underlined that social assistance alone is not sufficient for development but that the real solution lies in productive and decent work. In order to achieve this, it is essential to improve working conditions and find new approaches to the organisation of work, such as social entrepreneurship, voluntary work and other employment opportunities, for which we need a harmonised, comprehensive policy framework. All of these aspects of development need to be measured and, to this end, appropriate methods must be devised to ensure the proper assessment of development policies. In this context, the President commented on key findings and suggestions contained in the report of Joseph Stiglitz, Amartye Sen and Jean-Paul Fitoussi, dealing with the very same aspects of understanding and measuring development.

President Türk also touched upon the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, which has generally fallen below expectations. He stressed that progress towards achieving the MDGs should also be measured in timeframes, taking into consideration the initial development stage of each society. This would lead to better understanding of how much time an individual society needs to catch up with the desired development stage in specific fields.

In the afternoon, President Türk met the Secretary-General of the OECD, Angel Gurría, who presented current OECD activities and analyses in the areas of employment policy, introducng green technologies and other issues related to preparations for the UN climate conference to be held in Copenhagen in December.

The two dignitaries also discussed the main topic of the OECD Forum – measuring social progress. They paid particular attention to labour and employment, mainly the employment of young people. The Secretary-General expressed his satisfaction with the progress of the Republic of Slovenia towards accession to the OECD. He pointed to outstanding issues in the field of corporate governance, in particular to companies with a state-ownership share, which, in his opinion, should be the focus of attention. Dr Türk said that, in eliminating shortcomings in this field, answers can be found in good practices of comparable countries worldwide.

On the margins of the Forum, President Türk met with the Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, Dr Nam-Sik Hur.