Ministers Skinnari and Lintilä to attend OECD Council on post-pandemic sustainable recovery and organisation’s future priorities

The ministerial council meeting of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will be held virtually on 31 May–1 June 2021. The meeting will focus on the economic recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and the future priorities of the OECD.

The meeting will also celebrate the 15-year work of the outgoing Secretary-General Angel Gurría and welcome his successor Mathias Cormann. Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Skinnari and Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä will represent Finland at the meeting.

Lintilä will attend the meeting on 31 May when the focus will be on the lessons learned during the pandemic and the Member States’ priorities for economic recovery. In addition, the agenda includes a discussion on the importance of international cooperation and the common values that the Member States should respect in the implementation of their recovery programmes. 

“Reforming Finland requires stronger investments by companies, which will leveraged through the EU’s Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF). Investments will support economic renewal and generate new growth and exports. It is important to take into account both recovery in the short term and growth in the long term,” Minister Lintilä says.

OECD’s priorities on the agenda too

Minister Skinnari will attend the meeting on 1 June and participate in a discussion on the Member States’ objectives and priorities in the OECD and the common values guiding this work. This will be the first discussion led by new Secretary-General Cormann.

“The fact-based, impartial and high-quality information the OECD produces is its strength. It is important that the OECD will be able to provide reliable up-to-date research and recommendations for the benefit of the Member States and to support the growth and competitiveness of open market economies. Slowing climate change and promoting green growth and digitalisation must be at the core of this work over the next few years,” Minister Skinnari says.

The ministerial council meeting is the OECD’s highest-level forum where finance, economic and foreign trade ministers from the OECD’s Member States and partner countries participate. The second part of the ministerial council meeting focusing on the organisation’s new vision and its 60th anniversary will be held in the autumn.

Inquiries:

Juha Niemi, Diplomatic Adviser to the Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, tel. +358 50 478 1387

Johanna Ala-Nikkola, Commercial Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 40 847 2178

Nina Alatalo, Adviser to the Minister of Economic Affairs (EU and International Affairs), tel. +358 50 431 8015

Tiina Heiskanen, Ministerial Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 456 0819