Ekaterina Zaharieva: Bulgaria’s membership in the OECD will be important for the whole region of of Southeast Europe.
29 October 2020 Events and Discussions“Bulgaria is ready to start discussions for membership in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and we hope to receive an invitation as soon as possible,” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said at the OECD’s 2020 Annual Ministerial Council Meeting held virtually.
For the first time, the candidate countries, including Bulgaria, were invited to participate in the most important annual forum of the Organisation.
“We are joining more and more legal instruments of the Organisation in key areas, and from January 1, 2021 Bulgaria will become a full member of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency,” said Ekaterina Zaharieva.
She emphasized the active cooperation with the Organisation, which Bulgaria is developing, and its growing importance in the situation of pandemic of COVID-19. Minister Zaharieva noted that the accession of our country to the OECD will be important for the whole of Southeast Europe.
The topic of the OECD’s annual ministerial meeting was how the global economy will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussions focused on the measures and tools at national and global level to deal with the crisis.
“The pandemic has shown us even more clearly how interconnected and interdependent the economies of all countries are,” said Minister Zaharieva, emphasizing that in tackling the current crisis, we must not allow inequality to deepen. “Women are often at the forefront of the fights against this disease and are often more affected by the negative economic consequences. We need to be more motivated to promote more employment and career development opportunities for women around the world,” said the Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister.
Ekaterina Zaharieva highlighted the key role of international cooperation in overcoming the challenges that all countries are facing, and emphasized the role of the OECD in tackling the effect of the coronavirus pandemic.
Membership in the OECD is among Bulgaria’s main foreign policy priorities, and receiving an invitation to start negotiations is among the government’s immediate goals.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development was founded in 1961 in order to stimulate policies for sustainable economic development, increase the living standards of the population and maintain financial stability. Over the years, the OECD has established itself as a global forum for the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices and the development of internationally recognized standards of governance and policies in various areas of the economic and social spheres. The OECD currently has 37 member states, including the most developed economies in Europe, North America, South America and Asia.