Argentina's OECD ascension bid is 'marathon, not sprint,' says top official

Argentina’s efforts to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are underway with the nation set to file a key self-assessment paper before the end of the year.

President Javier Milei’s government has committed to presenting a memorandum of understanding, the first formal step in the ascension process, before the end of the year, OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann said in Buenos Aires on Friday during a working visit.

“The government has told us that, by the end of the year, they will be in a position to present to the OECD the initial memorandum, which consists of a self-assessment by Argentina of its own legislation, policies and practices in terms of their alignment with OECD standards and best practices,” Cormann said in a joint statement issued with Foreign Minister Diana Mondino on Friday

Mondino, the nation’s top diplomat, said that accession to the OECD “is one of Argentina’s priority objectives” and that her officials have started work on the ascension road map they received from the organisation in May.

“We want to strengthen Argentina’s integration with the world, and accession is an instrument to deepen the political, economic and cultural reforms necessary to achieve this goal, as it leads us to qualitative change and enables us to walk the path that many successful countries have already followed, as well as to take their good practices as an example,” Mondino told Cormann, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

But while hailing the “optimism” from officials in Argentina, Cormann warned that the full OECD ascension process would take years to complete.

Mondino and Cormann staged their joint press conference after sharing a working lunch with a group of provincial leaders and Cabinet ministers. Governors Leandro Zdero (Chaco), Rogelio Frigerio (Entre Ríos), Ignacio Torres (Chubut), Claudio Poggi (San Luis), Maximiliano Pullaro (Santa Fe), Gerardo Zamora (Santiago del Estero), Carlos Sadir (Jujuy) were among those in attendance.

The OECD official, who praised Argentina’s “true sense of commitment and determination,” also met with President Javier Milei while visiting Buenos Aires.

Argentina formally applied to join the OECD in 2016 under former president Mauricio Macri. Six years later – under the government of ex-president Alberto Fernández – the OECD said it was willing to start the process.

The Milei government received a roadmap, detailing the steps it had to implement if it wanted to join the OECD, at the start of May. 

Cormann, a former finance minister in the Australian government, said that once the OECD receives the initial memorandum, a technical review process starts which can last several years.

Speaking to reporters, however, he praised the “optimism” in Buenos Aires over the bid.

“It is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. In order to succeed, it will be extremely important to have broad political support for Argentina’s aspiration to become a member of the OECD,” he said, highlighting the importance of cross-party support for the process.

The OECD brings together the largest global economies with democratic regimes. A number of other nations are also in the process of ascension, including Brazil, Peru, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania. 

Four Latin American countries – Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia and Mexico – are already part of the OECD, which was founded in 1961 and whose 38 members account for around 80 percent of global trade and investment.

– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL