The Minister of Foreign Affairs Svetlan Stoev reaffirmed Bulgaria's determination to become a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at a meeting with the Secretary General of the OECD Matthias Corman in Paris. The conversation, which was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister for European Funds Management Atanas Pekanov and Finance Minister Valeri Belchev, took place in Paris as part of the second part of the annual meeting of the OECD Council at ministerial level.

Bulgaria fully shares the values ​​and principles on which the global community of the OECD is based and is ready to actively participate in the process of reaching decisions on important topics on the global agenda, contributing to the establishment of the principles and goals of the organization regionally and internationally, said Minister Stoev.

Matthias Corman congratulated Bulgaria on the clear progress made in the preparations for accession to the OECD and encouraged our country to continue to take active steps to fully implement all OECD standards.

Speaking before the OECD ministerial meeting earlier in the day, the organization's secretary general said he was ready to work to create opportunities to move forward with the accession process of the six candidate countries, including Bulgaria.

In his opening remarks at the opening of the forum, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, as chair of this year's meeting, emphasized US support for strengthening the OECD, based on the values ​​of democracy, open market economy, rule of law and human rights. According to him, the organization has a key role to deal with modern challenges - economic recovery after the pandemic, climate change, digital transformation, overcoming inequalities. Any country that shares OECD values ​​and is committed to implementing its principles and standards and wants to join the organization must be able to walk the path to membership, Blinken said.

The participants in the meeting - Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Economy, Trade, from the 38 OECD member states and the partner countries - took part in the solemn ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the organization. On the occasion of the anniversary, the member states also approved a declaration on the vision of the OECD in the future.

Bulgaria's accession to the OECD will provide an opportunity for even more active and visible participation of our country in the global economic dialogue. Bulgaria's determination to carry out the organization's mission of sustainable and inclusive economic development and addressing the new challenges was also highlighted in a special statement by the Foreign Minister submitted at the Paris meeting. The statement also emphasizes the remaining strong political commitment of our country to join the OECD soon.

The Ministerial Meeting of the OECD Council continues on October 6, 2021, when Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov and the Minister of Finance will take part in specialized discussions on issues of international taxation, trade, the transition to zero emissions, digitalization and building an inclusive future.

Bulgaria has officially stated its desire to join the OECD in 2007, consistently reaffirming its intention over the years. Apart from Bulgaria, candidates for membership are Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Romania, Croatia.

The preparation of our country for accession to the OECD is coordinated by a special permanent interdepartmental mechanism under the leadership of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, including representatives of all line ministries and other institutions.

/Council of Ministers Press Release