Speech by Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă at the Accession to the OECD - Opportunities for the business environment(...)

Message from OECD Secretary-General, Mr. Mathias Cormann

Dear Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă,
Distinguished guests,
Thank you for the opportunity to join you today to talk about Romania's path toward OECD membership. This process will build on Romania's impressive economic performance over the past 20 years in closing the gap between Romania's GDP per capita and the OECD average by half, from about 70 percent to around 35 percent. Strong foreign investment, important progress on judicial reforms, and prudent monetary policy have all contributed to this success so far. Indeed, much has already been achieved but there is more that can, and we are confident that there is more that will be done to ensure Romania reaches its full potential, generating even more opportunities for the people of Romania and for businesses right across Romania.
The OECD 2022 economic survey of Romania finds that further reforms can help unleash even more growth and help ensure businesses and citizens have the opportunity to fully participate in and benefit from that further growth and development.
Romania's OECD accession journey, we are convinced, will help drive some of these growth-enhancing reforms. During Prime Minister Ciucă's visit to the OECD last December, Romania submitted its Initial Memorandum which kicked off the technical part of the accession process. This process will involve 26 OECD committees, made up of expert policymakers from each of the 38 OECD member countries, and the European Union conducting comprehensive technical reviews.
Indeed, those committees will each undertake a 360-degree in-depth assessment of Romania's legislation, policies, and practices against OECD legal instruments and OECD best policies and practices. OECD standards and instruments encompass almost every area of government policy, from agricultural policy to education and skills, governance, innovation, and taxation, and I tried to name but a few.
For the business community gathered here today, this process will have direct and concrete benefits, supporting Romania's reform agenda and fostering fair, efficient, open, and competitive markets. It will help ensure that Romania has an open and attractive investment climate to further fuel growth. It will help make further progress in the fight against corruption and improve the efficiency and integrity of state-owned companies. It will promote more competition and competitive neutrality by encouraging the removal of regulations that unnecessarily hold back innovative businesses and by helping to ensure a more level -playing field. It will ensure the right policies are implied to encourage sustainable and resilient business practices including in global supply chains of which Romania is becoming an increasingly important part. It will help the government scale up investment and sustainable infrastructure laying the foundations for future growth. The benefits are not one-sided. OECD members and the OECD as a whole have a great deal to gain from stronger policy cooperation and from even more input from Romania.
The decision of the OECD Council to open accession discussions with Romania and five other countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Peru was a historic step for the Organization. In today's very challenging economic and geopolitical environment, stronger cooperation among like-minded countries is essential. One of the best ways to foster this cooperation is through the adoption of our shared standards and good practices. Exactly what the accession process aims to achieve for and with Romania. Romania's accession journey will also benefit our organization more broadly by bringing its own unique perspective and experience to our work and we very much look forward to that. In closing, we are at the beginning of an ambitious process that will deliver tangible benefits for businesses and indeed for all Romanians. It is a whole society's process, and so it will benefit greatly from your active involvement and support. Business at OECD or BIAC will be an important conduit for your feedback which the OECD Deputy Secretary General will expand on, during the panel discussion. Thank you for your interest in the OECD and thank you for your willingness to engage with us, in this positive, transformative journey. I look forward to the opportunity to catch up with you in Bucharest and around Romania in the months and years to come. Thank you.