Chile will become the 31st member nation of the OECD, and only the second country in Latin America, after Mexico, being a member since 1994. In 2007 the OECD initiated accession negotiations with Chile, Estonia, Israel, the Russian Federation and Slovenia. So far, throughout the two years of negotiations and reviews by 20 OECD Committees, only Chile has fully met the organization’s requirements and standards, and modified the country’s legislations on tax information exchanges and corporate governance. Slovakia was the last member to be accepted into the OECD in 2001.

Announcing the OECD decision, Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, said “…this is a place where Chile belongs, out of sheer merit. For nearly two decades Chile has developed a strong set of policies for democratic consolidation and sound economic growth”. Commenting on the decision, Andrés Velasco, Chilean Finance Minister, stated ”…as a middle-income South American country, we will bring a new perspective to the OECD’s debate on global economic and social development,”.

The formal acceptance of the invitation and signing of the Accession Agreement by President Michelle Bachelet and Angel Gurría is expected to be held on January 11thm 2010, in Santiago, Chile.

Photo by Foreign and Commonwealth Office