OECD welcomes Estonia into its membership
28.05.2010, 10:03The OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - Chair of this year's ministerial Council meeting - and accession countries' Prime Ministers, Andrus Ansip (Estonia), Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel) and Borut Pahor (Slovenia) attended the welcoming celebration and a press conference
The formal invitation was handed over to the Estonian prime minister Andrus Ansip and finance minister Jürgen Ligi.
In his speech, Andrus Ansip said that receiving the invitation to join the OECD was a great honour and privilege for Estonia and went on to say:
“This year is very important for Estonia. For a long time, Estonia has had two important policy goals: joining the OECD and becoming part of the euro area. Today, we can say that the first goal has been achieved, and the second one is within our reach.
We are always open to new ideas. We have gained a lot of experience over the years and are prepared to contribute this experience to the OECD knowledge base.
We are confident that OECD membership will contribute to the further development of Estonia.
Prime Minister Andrus Ansip will sign the OECD accession treaty when OECD Secretary-General Ángel Gurría visits Estonia on 3 June 2010.
Estonia will become a full member of the OECD after the accession treaty is ratified by the Estonian Parliament.
OECD is a forum for democratic nations which is based in Paris. The organisation was established in 1961 on the basis of its predecessor, the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation.
OECD currently has 31 member countries. The primary goal of the organisation is to contribute to the development of the global economy and to the expansion of global trade.