Press release, 15 March 2016
Photo of the Office of the Seimas (aut. Olga Posaškova)
On 15 March 2016, Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, met Angel Gurría, Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), to discuss the progress achieved in Lithuania’s accession to the Organization.
The Speaker of the Seimas noted that accession to the OECD was among the priorities of Lithuania’s political development; and that although much was left to be done in the accession process, our objective was to ensure the implementation of the reforms recommended by the OECD and to become a fully-fledged member of the Organization as soon as possible.
At the meeting, Mrs Graužinienė underlined the important role that Members of Parliament had to assume in preparation for membership of this influential Organization. “There is no doubt that the Seimas holds a heavy responsibility in Lithuania’s accession process; I am therefore very happy that all political groups of the Seimas have expressed their unanimous support for the accession to the OECD. I believe that the Seimas will ensure timely approval of substantial reforms, legislative amendments and ratification of international agreements, which are necessary to meet the requirements for the membership of the OECD,” the Speaker of the Seimas said.
In 2015, along with the invitation for accession talks, the OECD adopted the Roadmap for the Accession of Lithuania to the OECD Convention which sets out the terms, conditions and process for its accession to the OECD. The meeting also took note that joint work between our country and OECD experts has produced the first results in the form of the OECD Economic Assessment of Lithuania.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was officially established in 1961 with its headquarters in Paris. The OECD serves as the forum for experts from OECD member countries to discuss and share best practises and develop new socio-economic policy guidelines.
Currently, there are 34 member countries in the OECD. In 2013, the OECD started accession discussions with Colombia and Latvia, whereas Lithuania and Costa Rika were invited to launch OECD accession talks in 2015.
Rosvaldas Gorbačiovas, Senior Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6005, mob. +370 698 42 071, e-mail: [email protected]
