OECD MEETING Russia, four others set to be invited to start entry talks UPDATE

OECD MEETING Russia, four others set to be invited to start entry talks UPDATE

	Published : Tue, 15 May 2007 11:38 By : Agencies Print this Story

(updating to include comments on major emerging economies)

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - The OECD may invite Russia and four other countries to begin negotiations on joining the organisation at the end of its annual ministerial meeting tomorrow, according to diplomatic sources.

The OECD is considering a list of potential candidates for entry and is likely to announce the names of countries which have been invited to start negotiations on joining at the end of its two-day meeting.

Chile, Israel, Estonia and Slovenia are also expected to be invited to start entry talks, the sources said.

'Barring any possible last minute hitches, we expect to be in a position to announce an invitation to a small number of countries to start accession negotiations,' said OECD spokesman Nicholas Bray.

Negotiations are still continuing on the list of entry candidates, which will only be finally agreed tomorrow, the sources said.

They said one point of discussion is an agreement that the entry of new members should not cost the OECD's 30 current members any additional money. This will mean that some new members will be paying proportionately more than some small countries which are already members. These may come under pressure to contribute more to the financing of the OECD, they said.

The invitation to the new members could represent a first step in a major enlargement of the organisation.

The OECD membership includes 30 of the world's most advanced economies but it does not include emerging powers China, Russia, Brazil or India.

'An organisation that says it is global obviously cannot ignore that there are countries out there whose size and growth is becoming a greater and greater share of the global economy,' secretary general Angel Gurria said when he took office last year.

When the OECD was founded in 1961 its membership represented 75 pct of global wealth, but now it only accounts for 60 pct, and rapid growth in Brazil, Russia, India, China could eventually reduce its share to around 50 pct, he said.

'We would be very interested to have as close a relationship with Brazil as Brazil would want,' Gurria said yesterday.

The major anglophone countries are understood to be arguing that enlargement should focus on the big emerging economies, while European members are insisting that the OECD should first incorporate those countries in eastern Europe which are not yet members.

steve.whitehouse@thomson.com

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