Dominican Republic Joins the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

The Dominican Republic formally joined the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an organization comprised of experts in the formulation of public policy practices.

“Our joining is of great value because the organization has experts, legal experts who identify better practices, draw up indicators…

Dominican President Leonel Fernández signed the document to officially join the OECD, an international organization committed to the principles of representative democracy and market economy, according to the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

Charles Oman, Adjunct Secretary General and Director of the Development Center of the institution welcomed President Fernández and congratulated him for making the effort to bring his country into the OECD.

President Fernández views joining this important organization as a positive move for the Dominican Republic. “Our joining is of great value because the organization has experts, legal experts who identify better practices, draw up indicators, variables that serve as a comparative base for us to be able to discern which road to take in terms of the formulation of public policies,” said the President about the DR’s entry into the OECD.

“It is important for us in the sense that it allows for a group of analysts and experts to study the Dominican situation within a comparative context. I think the existence of statistics, variables, indicators and good practices all make up a positive frame of reference to know what we should do and should not do,” Fernández told French reporters.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and its Development Center has its origins in the European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), formed in 1947 to administer American and Canadian aid under the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II.

Created as an economic counterpart to NATO, the OECD replaced the OEEC in 1961. Since then, its mission has been to help member countries to achieve sustainable economic growth and employment and to raise the standard of living in member countries while maintaining financial stability and contributing to the development of the world economy.

OFFICIAL VISIT TO UNESCO

Last Thursday, the Dominican President visited the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) where he held a work meeting with the Director General Irina Bokova.

At the UNESCO member states meeting, President Fernández presented a ten-year strategy designed by his government for higher education which included how to take advantage of new technology in the application of public policies. Fernández showed interest in strengthening programs and projects on the culture of peace.