Background of OECD

What is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)?

The OECD brings together more than 30 countries sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy. Its forerunner was the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation established for the economic reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War. The OECD's principal vocation is to build strong economies in its member countries, expand free trade and contribute to development in industrialised as well as developing countries. To this end, the aims of the organisation are to promote policies which are designed:

• to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy;

• to contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and

• to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations.
  

Membership

When the OECD was established in 1961, its membership comprised 20 countries in Western Europe and North America: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US. They have subsequently been joined by Japan (1964), Finland (1969), Australia (1971), New Zealand (1973), Mexico (1994), the Czech Republic (1995), Korea (1996), Poland (1996), Hungary (1996), the Slovak Republic (2000), Chile (2010), Slovenia (2010), Israel (2010) and Estonia (2010). It now has a total of 34 members.

Structure of OECD

The organisation of OECD is as follows:

• The OECD's governing body is the OECD Council. Each member country has a permanent representative to the OECD and they meet regularly in the Council. The Council meets at ministerial level once a year when Ministers from member countries raise important issues and set priorities for OECD work in the following year. The Council is headed by a Secretary-General (SG). The present SG is Mr. Angel Gurrˆqa who has assumed the position since 1 June 2006.

• There are specialised committees under the Council which meet to advance ideas and review progress in specific policy areas. Some of these include the Environmental Policy Committee, Development Assistance Committee, Trade Committee, Investment Committee, and Committee on Financial Markets.
  

Hong Kong's Participation in OECD

Hong Kong has been an observer to the OECD's Trade Committee and the Committee on Financial Markets since 1994 and 1995 respectively. We have contributed to and benefited from the work of these two Committees. Besides attending the Trade Committee meetings, Hong Kong also participates in meetings conducted jointly by the Trade Committee and other OECD committees on trade related issues such as environment, investment and competition.

Importance of the OECD to Hong Kong

Hong Kong's observership in the two OECD committees continues after 1 July 1997 under the name of "Hong Kong, China" (HKC).

Our participation in OECD is an example of the successful implementation of the "One Country, Two Systems" concept. Hong Kong retains and exercises full autonomy in the conduct of its economic and trade affairs, including participation in relevant international organisations after 30 June 1997. We will continue to participate actively in the committees of the OECD.