25/05/2018 - OECD countries agreed today to  invite Colombia to become a member of the Organisation.  Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Secretary-General Gurría will sign an Accession Agreement on 30 May during the upcoming meeting of the OECD Council at ministerial level in Paris.

 

As part of its accession process, Colombia has been subject to in-depth reviews by 23 OECD Committees and has introduced major reforms to align its legislation, policies and practices to OECD standards, including on labour issues, the reform of its justice system, corporate governance of state-owned enterprises, anti-bribery, trade as well as new national policies on industrial chemicals policy and waste management.

 

Colombia’s membership will take effect after it has taken the appropriate steps at the national level to accede to the OECD Convention and deposited its instrument of accession with the French government, the depository of the Convention.  Colombia’s accession will extend OECD’s membership to 37 countries. 

 

OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría said:  “We are very pleased to welcome Colombia as a member of the OECD. Accession to our Organisation was set as a priority by President Santos when he assumed office and we are glad that the process could be completed during his mandate. It has been a journey in which we have always appreciated the strong commitment and leadership of President Santos and his team. The accession of Colombia will contribute to our efforts to transform the OECD into a more diverse and inclusive institution, which will ensure our relevance in the years and decades ahead. The global challenges we are facing today can only be addressed if we have emerging, developing and advanced economies working together.”

 

Colombia was invited to open accession talks in 2013. Membership talks with Costa Rica are currently ongoing.

 

For further information journalists are invited to contact the OECD's Media division (tel: + 33 1 4524 9700).

 

More information on OECD's work on Colombia is available at:

http://www.oecd.org/countries/colombia/

and

http://www.oecd.org/latin-america/countries/colombia/

 

More information on how accession to the OECD works: www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/enlargement.htm.

 

Working with over 100 countries, the OECD is a global policy forum that promotes policies to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.