As of June 1st, Japan, one of the founding members of the OECD Development Centre, makes a welcome return to the Centre. Japan’s re-entry is one of the milestones during a seminal week of activities at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, including celebrating the 2016 OECD Week, holding its Ministerial Council Meeting and convening a High-Level Meeting of its Development Centre Governing Board.

Japan joins a group of 50 OECD and non-OECD countries, contributing to a rapidly expanding membership of the Development Centre. The European Union also participates in the work of the Centre.

Founded in 1962 at the suggestion of US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the OECD Development Centre helps decision makers find innovative solutions to stimulate growth and improve living conditions in developing and emerging economies. The Development Centre’s research fuels peer learning among countries at different stages of development, allowing them to benefit from the insights of other countries’ development paths and advance mutual understanding.

Equally, policy dialogues with governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, such as the private sector and philanthropic foundations, support the Centre’s member countries in promoting sustainable development across a broad range of policy domains and actors working in development. In this dialogue, Japan’s voice matters.

“Japan proves time and again that it is a leader in advancing sustainable development in how it engages with developing economies. In making sustainable development core to its global policy agenda, Japan’s perspectives have much to contribute to the Development Centre,” said Pierre Duquesne, the Chair of the OECD Development Centre Governing Board and Ambassador of France to the OECD.

	Japan's Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Masakazu Hamachi, with OECD's Secretary-General, Mr. Ángel Gurría. Photo by OECD/Julien Daniel

Alongside six other Members from Asia, including China, the Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Viet Nam, Japan will leverage the Centre’s key activities, including through the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme, and strengthen ties with policy makers throughout the region to address some of its more pressing needs.

The Development Centre has been deepening co-operation with Asia through the Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India;Revenue Statistics in Asian countries; and the Asian Regional Roundtable on Macroeconomic and Structural Policy Challenges. Even before re-joining,Japan has been a strong supporter and contributor to these tools. Its engagement in the OECD Development Centre as a member country will be crucial to promote the sharing of policy experiences to develop the region’s industrial capacity and promote infrastructure investment.

“As a Member, Japan’s experiences and expertise will foster new avenues for co-operation with Southeast Asia and beyond by expanding the Centre’s comparative policy work across regions and feed the Centre’s analysis and dialogue platforms at global, regional and national levels,” said OECD Development Centre Director Mario Pezzini.

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Media enquiries should be directed to Federico Bonaglia (Federico.Bonaglia@oecd.org; +33-1 45 24 96 03) at the OECD Development Centre.