On 16 April 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a regular meeting of the Working Group for the Co-ordination of Latvia’s Membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), opened and chaired by the Head of the Directorate for Economic Relations, Trade and Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Under Secretary of State for Economic Relations, Ivita Burmistre.
Regular meetings provide an opportunity for Latvian experts to exchange up-to-date information and cooperate in a concerted manner within the OECD framework. The working group brings together public authorities and social partners engaged with the OECD committees and involved in its multilateral and bilateral research projects. The Working Group for the Coordination of Latvia’s OECD Membership has been established in accordance with an Order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs aimed at ensuring a coordinated cooperation of Latvia with the OECD.
Ivita Burmistre thanked the involved institutions and experts for their earlier contributions to the work of the OECD committees; she also updated the participants on current developments in Latvia’s cooperation with the OECD: the spotlight was turned on Latvia’s recent accession to the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and support for OECD cooperation with the Eastern European and Central Asian countries. The DAC is the leading international forum for setting standards and best practice in development cooperation. Membership of the DAC provides a platform for Latvia in pursuit of its political priorities, including support to Ukraine and other EU Eastern Partnership countries at the international level, building new partnerships and a more effective development cooperation policy framework.
The meeting made note of contributions made by Latvia to the budget of the OECD Ukraine Country Programme and the Eurasia Competitiveness Programme in support of EU integration reforms in Moldova, as well as highlighting the prominent role of the Permanent Representation of Latvia to the OECD and UNESCO, with Ambassador Andris Pelšs among the leadership of the advisory group to the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme and chairing the OECD Group of Friends of Ukraine.
The meeting featured an exchange of information on preparations for the meeting of the OECD Council of Ministers this coming June. Members of the working group also outlined cooperation between the organisations they represent and the OECD, current issues addressed by the relevant committees, working groups and programmes within their competence, recommendations, reports and studies in progress.
The OECD works through more than 300 committees, experts and working groups covering all the sectors of economy and welfare. The OECD committees assess and compare the data from member countries and their policy achievements, and design proposals for policy-related solutions. Members of the committees are experts from member states and partner countries representing public authorities, the academia, businesses, and civil society.
