At his meeting with the Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mr. Ángel Gurría, in Kadriorg on June 3rd, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves emphasised that Estonia has every intention in participating actively in the work of the organisation.

“Participation in the work of the OECD means close co-operation between the member states – dialogue involving the implementation of principles of consensus and learning from each other’s best experiences. Estonia has the objective of participating actively in the process,” said President Ilves.

According to President Ilves, joining the OECD means access to information and specialists for Estonia.

“Estonia highly values the OECD’s expertise. We have already benefited from it, during both the accession negotiations and earlier within the framework of the Baltic regional programme,” the Head of State added.

President Ilves emphasised the role of the OECD as an acknowledged centre for economic analysis.

“Several analytical reports have already been prepared for Estonia. Access to different comparative information is no less important – today it is rather difficult to find information, which would allow us to compare ourselves with the rest of the world,” said President Ilves.

The restoration of the world economy was also in focus at the meeting; the latest economic forecast of the OECD was discussed – it states that the world’s economy is showing the first signs of recovery; however, combating high unemployment rates will continue to be a challenge.

The Estonian Head of State thanked the Secretary-General of the OECD for his personal contribution to the enlargement process.

(Office of the President)

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