Global Economic Uncertainty: Unlocking SME Finance for Investment and Productivity

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While economies have demonstrated resilience over the past several years, economic uncertainty is weighing on the small businesses which are driving our economies. The cost of finance for SMEs remains high, despite recent decreases in SME interest rates, and banks continue to apply stringent lending terms and conditions to mitigate risk.  

Read the full report here that discusses questions such as:  how ongoing economic and policy uncertainty is affecting SME financing and investment decisions; what policy approaches and market-based solutions can help SMEs invest in productivity-enhancing assets; and, how we can strengthen uptake of digital solutions to enhance access to finance and boost SME productivity.

Risks to the Global Supply Chain: Critical Raw Materials

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Critical raw materials are facing rising export restrictions, increasing risks to the global supply chain.

The annual update of the OECD Inventory of Export Restrictions on Critical Raw Materials tracks export restrictions and supports analysis of their impact on availability, prices and global supply chains. 

The OECD continues to monitor these measures over time.

Today in Global Small Business: 'Ugly' Fees On Chinese Ships Concern US Ag Exporters

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• 'Ugly’ fees on Chinese ships concern US ag exporters.
• US strikes trade deals across Latin America, lowers tariffs on Argentina’s beef.
• Quote of the week:  "It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it is not fought on U.S. soil.” Is now “Who cares that we have no merchant ships left to carry supplies overseas.” – Naval quote
• As we look ahead to 2026, the global supply chain enters a chapter defined by relative stability but underscored by persistent uncertainty. 
• OECD finds growing transparency efforts among leading AI developers.
• Learn how to research and select overseas markets confidently.

Global Corporate Sustainability Report 2025

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Corporate sustainability means integrating  environmental and social considerations into a company’s strategy, operations and disclosure. It fosters sound governance and decision-making, while helping investors better understand a company's long-term risks and opportunities.

The OECD Global Corporate Sustainability Report 2025 provides insights on how companies are implementing the sustainability-related recommendations of the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. These recommendations cover disclosure, shareholder-company dialogue, board responsibilities, and stakeholder engagement. 

Access report here.

AI Openness: A Primer for Policymakers

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The policy paper, "AI Openness:  A Primer for Policymaker," explores the concept of openness in artificial intelligence (AI), including relevant terminology and how different degrees of openness can exist. It explains why the term "open source" – a term rooted in software – does not fully capture the complexities specific to AI.

Further, the paper analyses current trends in open-weight foundation models using experimental data, illustrating both their potential benefits and associated risks. It incorporates the concept of marginality to further inform this discussion. By presenting information clearly and concisely, the paper seeks to support policy discussions on how to balance the openness of generative AI foundation models with responsible governance.

The Global Plastics Outlook Through 2060

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In recent years, growing awareness of ubiquitous plastic pollution has steered public opinion and paved the way for stronger policy intervention on this front. The OECD Global Plastics Outlook reports seek to inform and support these efforts.

Plastic pollution is one of the great environmental challenges of the 21st century, causing wide-ranging damage to ecosystems and human health, while the fossil-fuel origins of most of the plastics produced have implications for climate change. Yet plastics have become an integral part of the global economy, being used in almost all economic sectors.

Read the report on Global Plastics Outlook:  Policy Scenarios to 2060

Today in Global Small Business: Shipping Containers in Parking Lots in Doctors' Offices

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• The latest thing in doctors' offices:  shipping containers in parking lots (subscription required).
• Agreement reached at OECD to end export credit support for unabated coal-fired power plants.
• Ensuring a strong recovery for developing countries.
• Quote of the week:  "There is one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent threat of a changing climate." – Barack Obama on Climate Change, 44th President of the United States of America
• Managing water and climate risk with renewable energy.
• Realizing the ROI of future – digital capabilities top of list.

Global Small Businesses Have Struggled to Survive

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Earlier this year, Facebook began conducting monthly surveys of small and midsize businesses that have Facebook pages. The surveys, done in collaboration with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, asked about business closures, workforce reductions, and government aid, as well as leaders' domestic responsibilities, their overall optimism, and other topics. More than 25,000 business leaders responded each month, totaling more than 150,000 respondents in more than 50 countries. 

The report findings state that these businesses were more likely than their larger peers to have suffered a 50 percent or greater drop in sales compared with 2019, and were more likely to have closed in a given month. Businesses with fewer than 10 employees were also less likely than larger firms to have received bank or government loans.

Read the global survey of small business owners here.  During the pandemic, global small businesses have struggled to survive.

Risks and Uncertainty Remain High in the Global Marketplace

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According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD), restoring confidence will be crucial to how successfully all economies can recover, and for this we need to learn to safely live with the COVID-19 virus.  Policymakers reacted rapidly and massively to buffer the initial blow to incomes and jobs. But the pace of recovery has lost momentum over the summer.

Read more about how the global outlook is less pessimistic, but risks and uncertainty remain high.  Governments need to be more targeted and flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions. 

The OECD also noted a new chaos of digital taxes and tariffs that could cut global output by 1%. 

Today in Global Small Business: China is a Viable Digital Commerce Opportunity

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Think you don't have a chance selling in China?  Guess again.  Learn how a pro, Jennifer Bayon, VP, Business Development, PPI Beauty makes doing business in China a viable digital commerce opportunity on July 8th at 11AM CT (n/c) via Women Entrepreneur Global Global's wegginar.
• Are you operating in the brand licensing sector?  Then you might be qualified to apply for the Small Business Global Grants Fund. 
• Quote of the week:  "Asking the question 'are we doing enough' [concerning COVID-19] regularly and repeatedly is critical." – Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead, World Health Organization, infectious disease epidemiologist
• The Covid-19 pandemic has required leaders to make decisions under considerable pressure. Many CEOs have been acting as the “chief crisis officer” as they work to ensure their firm’s survival and to manage the physical, mental, and social well-being of their employees.  See if you are functioning with any bias.
• Resilience.  Recovery.  Renewal.  Here's a roadmap to recovering.
• According to OECD, the world economy is on a tightrope.  

Contributing to a Global Effort on the Coronavirus

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What are the impacts and consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on our lives and our societies – and what are some of the solutions we can find to boost our healthcare systems, secure our businesses, maintain our jobs and education, and stabilize financial markets and economies?  Find ourtmore from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD):

• Policy response – Supporting livelihoods during the COVID‑19 crisis: Closing the gaps in safety nets.
• Data – International trade outlook points to sharp deterioration in April.
• Perspective – The only way to beat the COVID-19 crisis is if we come together and commit to science.
• Webinar – Global Deal webinar on managing the pandemic: Approaches taken by Global Deal partners.
• Perspective – One World: Global solidarity for recovery and resilience.
• Perspective – Global container shipping and the corona crisis.

Read a full perspective here.

Today in Global Small Business: Staying Apart to Stay Healthy

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Visit The World Bank website to see what they are doing to treat – sustain economies and protect jobs – during the COVID-19 outbreak.
• Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are working together to fund research for COVID-19 treatments as the pandemic continues to spread.
• Quote of the week relating to the COVID-19 outbreak: “It’s very tough to say to people, ‘Hey keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner, we want you to keep spending because there’s some politician that thinks GDP growth is what counts,’” Gates said. “It’s hard to tell people during an epidemic … that they should go about things knowing their activity is spreading this disease." – Bill Gates
• New OECD outlook on the global economy.
• A national defining moment – what historians will say about COVID-19.
• Staying apart to stay healthy during the COVID-19 crisis.

What Is a Scale Up Business?

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The scaling up of SMEs is key to boost productivity and achieve inclusive growth.  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)-Eurostat Manual on Business Demography Statistics (2007) defines high-growth enterprises as “enterprises with an average annualized growth greater than 20% a year, over a 3-year period, and with 10 or more employees at the beginning of the observation period."

But what is a scale up business?

Learn more by reading a paper on Enabling SMEs to Scale Up.  This paper was prepared as a background document to the OECD Ministerial Conference on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, taking place on 22-23 February 2018 in Mexico.

Key finding:  Start-ups that scale up provide a key contribution to job creation and key drivers of competitiveness.

Today in Global Small Business: Export Compliance is a Global Must

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• 1,000 steps to becoming a global small business.
• Despite global uncertainty, SMEs will continue to push beyond borders for business.
• An 18-year old policy brief by OECD highlights that SMEs have local strength, global reach.
• Accept payments from anywhere in the world provided Stripe operates in the country you select.
• U.S. export compliance is a global must.
• Get out of your comfort zone in 2019.  Register for FREE wegginar® on 12/5 to help you learn how.  

Today in Global Small Business: How JD.com Uses AI to Take on Competitors

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Leveling the global trading field for SMEs.
• Policy brief on women's entrepreneurship (by OECD).  Direct access to report.
• The High Growth Handbook -- read if you are ready to learn and scale.
• How Chinese retailer JD.com uses AI to take on major competitors.
• Read how the franchising industry has been rapidly expanding over the past few years, with many national and international players taking the industry by storm.
• Registration is OPEN for wegg's™ September 12th Chicago morning event starring Julie Smolyansky, President and CEO, Lifeway Foods, who will talk about "Follow Your Gut."  To learn more and to register, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weggtm-workshop-follow-your-gut-presented-by-julie-smolyansky-tickets-48655708534

Today in Global Small Business: Japan's Retailers Benefit From E-Commerce and Overseas Expansion

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Stripe is really improving, especially globally. Check out Stripe Atlas.
• A look back on the OECD's Policy Brief on SMEs with local strength, global reach.
• Grow your business global online with Google.
• How MBA students can get more international business experience.
• Japan's retailers get big boost by e-commerce and overseas expansion.
• Attend the next educational WEGGinar™, Wednesday, May 9 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time: Building Your Global Brand Through Podcasting and presented by Kathrin Bussman, Ph.D., founder and principal, Verbaccino.  Get an earful from Kathrin on how to approach podcasting as a content-marketing effort and how to put one on.  It’s FREE of charge, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors: UPS, IBM and Bank of America – go here to register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3759262530790572546.

Today in Global Small Business: How SMEs Are Unlocking Global Growth

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• How SMEs are unlocking global growth -- brought to you by American Express and Oxford Economics.
• Familiarize yourself with e-commerce company noon.
• The world's biggest arms importers since 1950 (infographic).
• Learn why international payments capabilities is an underrated component of expansion.
• Trade tensions threaten global trade outlook according to OECD.
• Pay a visit to Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global (WEGG), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization where women are learning how to expand their business internationally.  Attend the next WEGGinar™, Wednesday, May 9 at 11:00 a.m. Central Time: Building Your Global Brand Through Podcasting and presented by Kathrin Bussman, Ph.D., founder and principal, Verbaccino.  Kathrin will give us an earful on how to approach podcasting as a content-marketing effort and how to put one one.  It’s FREE of charge, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors: UPS, IBM and Bank of America – go here to register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3759262530790572546.

Prediction: China to Become World's Largest Economy by 2016

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Looking to 2060: Long Term Prospects for the World, a report produced by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says China is projected to overtake the U.S. to become the world's largest economy as early as 2016.

“The United States is expected to cede its place as the world's largest economy to China, as early as 2016. India’s GDP is also expected to pass that of the United States over the long term."

Learn more here.

Report:  Looking to 2060:  Long Term Prospects for the World

Agenda For Growth: A Soul-Searching Exercise

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The following are remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, delivered at the Official Monetary & Financial Institute Forum (OMFIF) Golden Series Lecture, July 2012 (still relevant today):

Thank you for this opportunity to present the OECD’s agenda for growth and our initiative on New Approaches to Economic Challenges (immediate download of PDF file) I think you’ll agree that now more than ever, we need to shine a brighter light on these issues.  Before I expand on this, let me first describe some of the economic and social realities we all face.

New Approaches to Economic Challenges: An OECD Agenda for Growth

Most Entrepreneurial Country in the World?

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Which country is the most entrepreneurial?

According to OECD, the U.S. does produce proportionately more large start-ups than its peer nations and new businesses have a much better than average chance of surviving at least two years.

But which other countries shine in the quest for entrepreneurship?  Jordan Weissmann, author of "Think We're the Most Entrepreneurial Country in the World?  Not so Fast," says the United States has:

a Start-up Rate Lower than Sweden's (and Israel's, and Italy's ...)

Find out more here.  There are enough graphs in the article to keep you busy and scratching your head.