HOW HAS THE OECD DEVELOPED?

The OECD grew out of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), which was set up in 1947 with support from the United States and Canada to co-ordinate the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II.

Created as an economic counterpart to NATO, the OECD took over from the OEEC in 1961 and, since then, its mission has been to help governments achieve sustainable economic growth and employment and rising standards of living in member countries while maintaining financial stability, so contributing to the development of the world economy. Its founding Convention also calls on the OECD to assist sound economic expansion in member countries and other countries in the process of economic development, and to contribute to growth in world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis.

In recent years the OECD has moved beyond a focus on its 38 member countries to offer its analytical expertise and accumulated experience to some 70 developing and emerging market economies. Globalisation has seen the scope of the OECD’s work move from examining each policy area within each member country to analysing how various policy areas interact with each other, between countries and beyond the OECD area. This is reflected in work on issues such as sustainable development, bringing together environmental, economic and social concerns across national frontiers for a better understanding of the problems and the best way to tackle them together.

The Organisation is also expanding its relationship with civil society. Initially focused on relations with business and labour, these have broadened to include a wide range of non-government organisations. The OECD also increasingly invites public comment on various aspects of its work.

In a rapidly-changing globalised economy, the OECD is changing too. The Organisation is reforming its management, including difficult issues such as burden-sharing of the OECD budget, rules on decision-making and how to respond to pressures to enlarge the OECD membership. It is also renovating its Paris headquarters, including construction of a new conference centre. All these efforts are directed towards making the OECD a more effective instrument of international co-operation.

OECD MEMBER COUNTRIES

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Canada
• Chile
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan

• Korea
• Latvia
• Luxembourg
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Columbia
• Costa Rica
• Lithuania