During the ceremony, Secretary-General Gurría offered a few words of thanks and expressed his pleasure at having been able to contribute to the strengthening of relations between France and Latin America, starting with his work as a senior official in the Mexican Government up to his current position as Secretary-General of the OECD. Over the past nine years in which he has been in charge of the OECD, Secretary-General Gurría has worked purposefully towards bringing Latin America closer to the Organisation, achieving major successes such as Chile’s membership, the launching of the accession process for Colombia and Costa Rica, the Country Programme signed with Peru in December 2014 and the Co-operation Agreement due to be signed this week with Brazil during the OECD Ministerial Meeting.

The Secretary-General, who was unanimously re-elected on 26 May by the OECD Council to lead the Organisation for a third term, reiterated his commitment to forge closer links with the countries in the region to help them design and implement structural reforms aimed at improving economic performance and reducing poverty and inequality. In this respect, the Secretary-General declared that: “The engines of growth have lost momentum in Latin America. For the first time in ten years, growth in the region in 2014 was below the OECD average. To reignite growth and reduce inequalities, the countries in the region must urgently step up their reform programmes in the areas of education, skills and innovation. Promoting reforms is essential to combat corruption and consolidate the State based on law.” (Read his speech, only available in French) 

‌1 June 2015 - Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General with the President of the French Senate, Gérard Larcher, during the award ceremony.