Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel: Bulgaria's efforts are visible and appreciated at the OECD
23 November 2023 News
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariya Gabriel chaired the meeting of the Inter-ministerial Coordination Mechanism (ICM) for the OECD, which took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting reviewed the status of Bulgaria's accession process to the OECD and the results of the missions and assessments carried out so far in the framework of the technical reviews.
‘The results of the accession discussions held so far in OECD committees and working groups are encouraging. Our country has already received a positive opinion from four working groups’, the Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel said.
‘Bulgaria’s efforts are visible and appreciated at the OECD. The report on Bulgaria takes into account the political stability of our country with the inauguration of the regular government and considers that it is moving at a good pace, which has visibly accelerated in recent months’, Mariya Gabriel added.
She thanked the ICM participants and the agencies they represent for their hard work, the results achieved and the consistent and sustained commitment.
‘The process of joining the OECD involves a serious workload for the whole administration. To be able to move at a good pace so that we complete the process within three years, which is our goal, it is necessary that the tasks related to the OECD continue to be addressed with priority attention’, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasised. ‘Bulgaria is progressing confidently, but we should not underestimate the challenges we have to face’, Maria Gabriel added.
In this context, a draft Resolution of the Council of Ministers was discussed on determining the composition of the OECD team at the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Paris, France. It is foreseen that the OECD team will include, in addition to diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, and if necessary, the team may be expanded to include representatives of other institutions. ‘Our country should be an active participant in the activities of the OECD working bodies and it is important that Bulgaria’s representatives are involved in the discussions on site’, Gabriel underlined.
The Inter-Ministerial Coordination Mechanism (IMC) for the OECD has been functioning since 2017 as a permanent committee with the main task to carry out overall coordination of Bulgaria's preparation process for OECD membership. The IMC is chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and includes deputy ministers of other ministries, chairpersons of government agencies and commissions, and heads of other institutions that could take part in Bulgaria’s preparations for OECD membership.
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