On 30-31 May 2018, the Council of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at Ministerial Level will convene for its annual meeting in Paris. Latvia will be represented at the event by Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and the Minister of Economy, Dana Reizniece-Ozola.
This year, the Ministerial Council is chaired by France, with Latvia and New Zealand as co-chairs.
The main theme of the meeting is multilateral cooperation (multilateralism) and its role in addressing the new economic, financial and climate-related challenges. The Ministerial Council sessions will deal with tax policy challenges and discuss the way ahead towards inclusive societies and enhancing public well-being.
At the trade session, the participants will discuss the role of an open system in trade, the strengthening of social and environmental standards in the context of trade, and fighting corruption. The environmental session will see the sharing of opinions on biodiversity, climate change and natural resources, as well as the issues of financing and a circular economy.
Edgars Rinkēvičs will chair a session on the OECD’s management issues. The Minister also intends to take part in a discussion on the advantages of an open economy and the ways of harnessing it for inclusive growth.
Representatives from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development will also take part in discussions and leading the sessions.
The Ministerial Council is preceded by the annual OECD Forum, which will reflect on “What Brings Us Together”. The forum’s main agenda points – international cooperation, inclusive growth and digitalisation – will be discussed by business people, members of civil society organisations, parliamentarians, and the academic community. The participants from Latvia are Marija Ručevska, a co-founder of the TechChill conference, Imants Breidaks, the head of ManaBalss.lv portal (a public initiatives platform), and Rihards Kols, the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) representative for cooperation with the OECD. The Latvian Public Media news portal, LSM.LV, is one of the forum’s media partners.
