On 13 December 2023, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andris Pelšs, took part in the Eurasia Week of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the most significant ministerial-level meeting of the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme.
This year’s event aims at identifying pathways for co-operation on issues such as entrepreneurship, the integrity of public administration and digital transformation, to jointly address challenges faced by Eurasia and the OECD countries caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war against Ukraine.
At the meeting, Andris Pelšs underlined the OECD’s role in promoting democracy, the rule of law and good governance in the region, which are essential preconditions for business development and a competitive economy. In his address, the State Secretary highlighted in particular the major role of digitalisation in strengthening the competitiveness of the region’s economy and referred to support provided by Latvia in promoting digitalisation among business community in the Eastern European and Central Asian countries.
The Eurasia Competitiveness Programme is the OECD’s most important regional format for cooperation with the Eastern European, Southern Caucasus and Central Asian countries. This regional programme is one of the OECD’s five regional programmes. It was established in 2008 and comprises 13 countries in the region. The programme aims at supporting the region’s countries with implementing structural reforms in line with OECD policy standards and good practice.