The booklet begins with a general consideration of the benefits of public
sector transparency for society at large. It argues that the investment
community’s efforts to improve investors’ access to information reinforce
broader efforts enhance public sector transparency and effectiveness. The
second section describes transparency enhancing policies towards investors
in OECD countries as well transparency provisions in recent international
investment treaties. The third section proposes a framework to assist both
OECD and non-OECD governments’ efforts to enhance transparency and to
serve as a basis for experience sharing among public officials. Far from imposing a “one-size-fits-all” approach to transparency, the CIME
recognises that transparency arrangements necessarily reflect national
culture, history and values, and of course, availability of resources and
skills. At the same time, public authorities can learn from each other’s
regulatory experiences (such as how others have dealt with the emergence
of new communication technologies).