(Paris) The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) announced on Tuesday that it was starting membership discussions with Indonesia, the first request made by a Southeast Asian country, according to a press release .
“As the largest economic power in Southeast Asia and the world’s third largest democracy, Indonesia is a major international player, exercising important leadership in the region and beyond,” commented the Secretary General of the OECD, Mathias Cormann, quoted in the press release.
“The decision to open accession discussions will be beneficial for Indonesia and for the OECD,” said Mr. Cormann, describing this decision as “historic”.
“As part of the accession discussions, the OECD will support Indonesia throughout its ambitious reform program aimed at achieving its goal of becoming an advanced economy by 2045,” it said.
And the process “will also allow the Organization”, based in Paris, “to strengthen its relevance and impact on a global scale”, according to Mr. Cormann.
The latter “will soon prepare a draft accession roadmap for the purposes of the technical review process, which will be submitted to the OECD Council at its next meeting”.
The reviews process will include “a rigorous and in-depth assessment by more than 20 technical committees of Indonesia’s alignment with OECD standards, policies and best practices.”
They will focus on themes such as open trade and investment, advances in public governance, initiatives supporting integrity and the fight against corruption, as well as effective protection of environment and the measures taken to deal with climate change.
Accession processes are not subject to any deadline for completion, specifies the OECD, and the final decision on Indonesia’s accession must be taken unanimously by the organization’s members.
Born in 1961 in the context of the Cold War, the OECD, which counts the United States and European countries among its founders, gradually opened up to other continents.
After Mexico and Chile, Colombia joined the organization in 2020. Costa Rica followed in 2021 by becoming its 38e member.
In June 2022, the international organization began the process of joining five other countries, Brazil, Peru, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia.
In June 2023, Ukraine and the OECD signed a four-year partnership aimed ultimately at promoting Kyiv’s membership in this organization which defends free trade and globalization.