BUCHAREST: Romania is not behind schedule in joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said Luca Niculescu, national coordinator for Romania’s accession to the OECD.

Romanian news agency AGERPRES quoted Niculescu as saying on Friday, “There is no deadline for accession. That is, until you align yourself with the OECD standards, stay and make progress. We have seen in previous accession processes that some countries manage to do it in four years, other countries take longer. They can join in nine to ten years. It depends on the pace of each one. I was saying there is no deadline set by the roadmap.’

He further explained that a target was pledged by the Romanian prime minister when OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann visited Bucharest two months ago. ‘That would be 2026. So, it is an ambitious goal; it is a goal that can be achieved if we keep up the good pace. We are not at all behind schedule,’ Niculescu affirmed.

OECD is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member
countries from North and South America to Europe and Asia-Pacific. OECD countries and key partners represent about 80 percent of the world’s trade and investment.

Source: Emirates News Agency