In an increasingly interconnected world economy, the role of Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) continues to evolve. A recent report from the United Nations reports that the product of the top 53 MNCs is larger than that of over 120 countries. Working internationally, these firms are exposed to a broad range of political issues that impact their commercial activity. For example, MNCs are stakeholders in the regulatory process of the host countries in which they operate, often seeking to promote legislation that will ultimately suit their own operations. In turn, MNCs can be useful agents by their home country to promote national foreign policy objectives. Very often, all this happens in very remote and/or politically unstable countries, making their foreign policy role even more challenging.
During the second half of the 20th century, with the development and diffusion of MNCs in the post WWII economic boom, several "codes of conduct" were issued to regulate their behaviour, including from UNCTAD, the International Labor Organization and OECD. In the 21st century however, globalization, changes in the relationship between the developed and developing world, and the emergence of new types of MNCs originating from the richest developing countries suggest the need for continued discussion regarding these international norms.
Join us on April 22 to discuss "Multinational corporations: Foreign Policy Actors in their own right?" with leading experts from the business sector, kindly hosted by Microsoft Europe.
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