On 5 October 2021 in Paris, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, met with the new Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann. The officials discussed bilateral cooperation, the OECD’s recent initiatives as well as the external relations of the organisation and its enlargement issues.
During the conversation, Edgars Rinkēvičs congratulated Mathias Cormann on his election to the post of OECD Secretary-General.
This year, Latvia marks five years of its OECD membership, the Foreign Minister noted. The organisation’s recommendations and standards have played an important and supportive role. We see the OECD as the mainstay of democracy and liberal economy. OECD review on digital transformation, “Going Digital in Latvia”, has provided a significant contribution to national policy planning. We are aware that Latvia’s membership of the organisation has been a major backing in reforms, Edgars Rinkēvičs underlined concluding that current cooperation with the OECD has been successful, with many bilateral project being implemented.
The officials also shared opinions on the OECD’s recent initiatives. Edgars Rinkēvičs noted that Latvia supports the organisation’s work on climate action and in reinforcing democracy. Latvia is actively taking part in the OECD’s work through sharing its experience and best practice in fighting disinformation, the Minister said adding that Latvia is working actively on the counter-disinformation agenda in the United Nations framework. We support the establishment of norms and principles for the governance of online platforms with full respect for the fundamental rights of individuals, Edgars Rinkēvičs asserted; in this regard, we see an opportunity for synergy between the work done by the European Union and the OECD. Latvia also supports further work in OECD system to address issues concerning the adaptation of the international taxation architecture to the global reality of the digitalisation of economies, which would provide a level playing field for companies, the Latvian Foreign Minister underlined.
During the meeting, Edgars Rinkēvičs expressed his conviction that the OECD is a good platform for bringing countries from the Eurasia region, especially Ukraine, closer to the OECD’s standards and best practice. Latvia supports OECD enlargement, while for the OECD countries their membership is a major support and driving force in undertaking the necessary reforms, Edgars Rinkēvičs noted.