site.btaInterdepartmental Coordination Unit on Bulgaria's OECD Accession, OECD Officials Meet

A meeting of an Interdepartamental Coordination Mechanism (IMC) on Bulgaria's accession to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was held at the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Minister Georg Georgiev, the Foreign Ministry said. It was attended by a delegation of representatives of the OECD Secretariat, headed by Gita Kothari, Coordinator for the OECD enlargement process.

Minister Georgiev identified Bulgaria's accession to the OECD as a strategic national priority, the implementation of which will have a direct positive impact on the economic and social development of the country. He noted the significant progress made so far in Bulgaria's preparations for membership, which are now at the final stage. He thanked the state institutions members of the ICM for their strong and consistent commitment to the successful completion of the technical reviews on Bulgaria's accession to the OECD working bodies, as well as to the Secretariat of the Organisation - for the active and close cooperation.

The Bulgarian Foreign Minister briefed the members of the ICM on the talks he held with OECD Secretary General Matthias Cormann in the framework of his participation in the annual meeting of the OECD Council at ministerial level in Paris on June 3-4. He reaffirmed the political ambition of the Bulgarian government to complete preparations for membership as soon as possible, with a view to receiving an invitation from the OECD Council to join the Organisation in 2026. In this regard, he noted the need to maintain maximum mobilization of Bulgarian efforts to meet the remaining OECD requirements and recommendations.

The OECD Secretariat expressed appreciation for the progress achieved so far and for Bulgaria's commitment to participate in the OECD activities. It was agreed that with full mobilization of efforts there is a real possibility to complete the implementation of the OECD recommendations as early as 2025.

The OECD Secretariat delegation is on a two-day working visit in Sofia. The programme of the visit includes meetings with the coordination team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Bulgarian state institutions, as well as at the National Assembly with the recently established subcommittee to support Bulgaria's accession process to the OECD.