Dear XXX,

Thank you for your letter of 23 April 1998, which the Secretary-General and I have received from a number of other concerned individuals. The points you raise are being taken into account as the negotiation of the MAI continues; but let me address two of them.

It is not correct suggest that only O.E.C.D. Member countries participate in the negotiation of the MAI. Eight non-Members (Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Estonia; Hong Kong, China; Latvia; Lithuania; and the Slovak Republic) participate in the negotiations as the observers, as do representatives of a number of international organisations, such as the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund. Furthermore, concerns raised by NGOs (about, for example, the proposed expropriation provisions of the draft agreement ) have been considered in detail MAI negotiations and have contributed to new proposals currently under consideration by MAI Parties.

The current state of the negotiations and proposals for text are described in the O.E.C.D.'s MAI Internet site: http://www.oecd.org/daf/cmis/mai/maindex.htm.

Yours truly,