On January 25, 2022, the Council of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) decided —by consensus— to invite Peru to start the process of accession to this institution. Early this year,
Peru submitted its Initial Memorandum, which is a self-assessment of the country's legislation, policies, and practices against OECD standards and best practices.
In this sense, the accession process properly is now underway, according to the IECD Secretary-General, Mathias Cornmann, who is in the country within the framework of the release of the "
OECD's Economic Survey of Peru 2023."
"There will be a series of fact-finding missions, there will be a series of actual reviews by 24 OECD expert committees covering a broad spectrum of public policies, economic, social, environment, trade, investment, public governance, etc. At the end of this process, there will be a set of recommendations on what else Peru needs to do in order to continue to improve its policies," Cormann said in an interview with El Peruano Official Gazette.
However, it is necessary to know what the OECD represents and what benefits will bring to Peru.
According to a document from the
National Center for Strategic Planning (CEPLAN), the OECD traces its roots back to the post-World War II, when European leaders agreed that the best way to ensure lasting peace was to encourage co-operation and reconstruction of the nations involved in the war.
Later, in 1961, the OECD was officially established as the successor to the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), which oversaw the implementation of the Marshall Plan —a major element in the economic recovery of Europe and in the establishment of democratic regimes in Western Europe.
Since then, the OECD has focused its efforts to provide a space for its member countries (and for non-member countries) to dialogue and identify the best practices in various areas of their economies.
Currently, the OECD comprises 38 countries: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
According to its official website, the organization's goal is to build policies for better lives and to promote those that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity, and well-being for all.
Together with governments, policy makers and citizens, the OECD works on establishing evidence-based international standards and finding solutions to a range of social, economic, and environmental challenges.
From improving economic performance and creating jobs to fostering strong education and fighting international tax evasion, the OECD provides a unique forum and knowledge hub for data and analysis, exchange of experiences, best-practice sharing, and advice on public policies and international standard-setting.
Peru and OECD
CEPLAN finds that being a full member of the OECD is important for the economic and social development of Peru for several reasons.
"The main one has a symbolic meaning. It would mean a significant achievement for a country that until not long ago was still one of the many countries unable to overcome the trap of average income," it explains.
The process of rapprochement with the OECD has been gradual. In 2008, Peru was admitted as an observer member in the
OECD Investment Committee.
Then, in 2009, Peru joined the
OECD Development Centre, which is a space for analysis and the interchange of experiences on economic and social policies between developed and developing countries.
In the following years, Peru approached the OECD through the Competition and Consumer Policy Committees, as well as the OECD Working Group on Bribery.
In 2012, Peru expressed its formal interest in becoming a member of the OECD for the first time and conveyed the same interest for a second time in 2017.
The OECD Ministerial Council agreed, in April 2014, to invite Peru to participate in the "Country Program," a mechanism that seeks to help a limited number of countries achieve OECD standards and practices —a process that the country underwent between 2014 and 2019.
In 2018, Peru became a Party to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (Anti-Bribery Convention) and the multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, with the aim of fighting corruption and fostering greater transparency and exchange of information.
On October 9, 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that then-President Pedro Castillo sent a letter to the Secretary-General of the OECD, Mathias Cormann, to reaffirm Peru's aspiration to become a member of said multilateral organization.
On January 25, 2022, the OECD decided —by consensus— to invite Peru to start the process of accession to this institution.
Chile and Colombia's accession process
It should be pointed out that Colombia initiated its accession process to the OECD in 2013, which was completed in April 2020, after completing its domestic procedures for ratification of the OECD Convention.
Meanwhile, Chile's accession process to the OECD started in 2007 and culminated in 2010.
(END) CNA/JJN/RMB
Published: 9/28/2023