OECD to Begin Membership Talks with Israel |
| Posted on Sep 17 2007 at 1:54 AM |
The OECD today announced that it will open accession talks with Israel. Israel is one of five countries with which accession talks will begin, along with Chile, Estonia, the Russian Federation and Slovenia. In a statement, the OECD Council said that it “invites the Secretary-General to set out the terms, conditions and process for the accession of each of these countries to the OECD for subsequent consideration and adoption by Council. Separately, Council may raise issues of a political nature which the Secretary-General will convey to the countries concerned in the context of the discussions on accession.”
Globes news analyst Avi Temkin said, "This is another, very important, step in the journey Israel embarked on 14 years ago to join the OECD. That said, Israel of the mid-1990s is not the Israel of 2007. Back then, OECD membership was intended to help in the recognition of Israel’s standing in the world, and especially to attract foreign investment. Today, the step underscores the fact that Israel is a part of the developed side of the global economy."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, “This is another vote of confidence in the Israeli economy, its strength and development capacity. The rapid expansion of the Israeli economy in recent years will receive great encouragement, and the country will now unquestionably benefit from additional investment from all over the world.”
Haaretz reported that "sources in Jerusalem predict that as a consequence of Israel's joining the OECD and of its economic achievements, three international credit rating firms (Modis, Standard & Poor's and Fitch) are expected to upgrade Israel's international credit rating from A- to A."
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