WORKRELATED TOTHECODEOFCONDUCT ONTRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS ANDOTHERINTERNATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS ANDAGREEMENTS 59.TheCommission considered item5ofitsagendaatits6th,10thand 13thmeetings, on10,12and14April1989.Ithadbeforeitthereports ofthe Secretary-General onthecodeofconduct ontransnational corporations (E/C.10/1989/4) andoninternational arrangements andagreements related to transnationa1 corporations (E/C.10/1989/5). 60.Inhisintroductory remarks, theExecutive Director oftheCentrenotedthat nointernational framework onforeign directinvestment existed, eventhough foreign directinvestment wasoneofthemostdynamic elements ofeconomic activity. Thecountries members oftheOrganisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development hadagreed onasetofguidelines formultinational enterprises, and boththetradeunionandbusiness communities hadbeenabletoformulate instruments andmakecommitments toadoptstandards fortransnational corporations. Unfortunately, thenecessary commitment wasstilleluding thecode ofconduct, eventhoughgreatprogress hadbeenmadeandonlyafewissues remained toberesolved. ~onetheless,theExecutive Director observed thatinthepast fewyears,therehadbeenstrongsupport forconcluding thecodeonthepartof various regional groups, asshownindeclarations andstatements emanating from ministerial-level meetings ofAfrican andAsiancountries. Thesocialist countries ofEastern Europehadconstantly reiterated theirsupport, showing aconstructive attitude throughallnegotiations. Atthehigh-level RoundTableontheCodeof Cc'~~-t,heldatMontreux, Switzerland. in1987,ithadbeenunanimously agreed t:.~thefewconcessions thatmightbeneededtoconclude thecodeshould beworth mak,.ng, inconsideration ofalltheotherpartsthathadbeenagreed. More recently, ataconference onforeign directinvestment atTokyo,theviewhadbeen expressed thataninternational framework onforeign direct investment wasneeded toguidethatimportant economic activity. 61.Lastly, theExecutive Director calledattention totheunderstandings reached bytheenlarged Bureauintheinformal consultations heldin1987,whichshould inspire futurenegotiations. Inthatconnection, henotedthatrecent changes in theworld's economic condition seemedtoconfirm thataninternational framework on foreign directinvestment wasnowmorerelevant thaneverbefore. Hereiterated thattheCentrestoodreadytosupport andassistinthenegotiations. 62.Thespokesman oftheGroupof77urgedtheCommission todevoteitsclosest attention toconcluding thecodeandnottolosesightoftheneedtoencourage the transfer oftechnology todeveloping countries toavoidwidening theeconomic gap between richandpoornations. 63.Manydelegations withintheGroupnotedthatthecodehadnotyetbeen concluded owingtothepersistent opposition ofafewcountries toahandful of issues. Thecode,infocusing ontheconduct oftransnational corporations, should beuniversal incharacter andshouldcontain la~guage precise enough nottocreate confusion. Theystressed support toanyviableinitiative forconcluding the code. Changes ininternational economic conditions andrelations appeared to emphasize theroleoftransnational corporations andthustheneedforthecodeof conduct. Onerepresentative referred tothereservations contained inthewritten -29- -30-67.Oneexpertadviser andtheobserver foranon-governmental organization stressed thatthecodeofconduct wouldhelptoensurethatthelegitimate aspirations ofworkers weretakenintoaccount bytransnational corporations.66.Anumberofdelegations fromthedeveloped mar'ket economies expressed their willingness tocontinue thecodenegotiations andagreedthatthecodecouldplay animportant roleinmobilizing foreign direct investment between developed and developing countries. Theystressed thattheoutstanding issues shouldcontinue to beaddressed andthecodeshould beapractical i.nstrument, whichshouldhelpto channel flowsofforeign direct investment towards developing countries; itshould beinlinewithotherinternational agreements dealing withforeign direct inve8tment andcontain asatisfactory reference tointernational lawandtoequal treatment oftransnational corporations vis-a-vis localenterprises. A representative withinthatgroupnotedthattherehadbeensignificant changes sincethenegotiations beganintheeconomic andpolitical assumptions underlying thecodeandobserved that,tobeuseful, acodeshouldreflect thereality that
**Analysis**
The text discusses the development of an international code of conduct for transnational corporations and their role in foreign direct investment. It highlights the importance of concluding the code to ensure that the legitimate aspirations of workers are taken into account and to promote economic development, particularly in developing countries. The text also touches on the need for the code to reflect changes in international economic conditions and to ensure equal treatment of transnational corporations and local enterprises.

**Category**
International trade, Employment