ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD)

ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSE OF THE OECD

OECD was officially established on September 30, 1961, with the reformation of the European Economic Cooperation Organisation (founded in 1948) via the OECD Convention dated December 14, 1960. The OECD is an intergovernmental cooperation organisation that aims at developing policies that will contribute to economic and social welfare of the entire humanity. For this purpose, the OECD conducts technical studies within the scope of the public policies, and shares the findings of these studies with the related actors, mainly the governments.    

The OECD headquarters is located in Paris, and the organisation has 38 members. Turkiye is among the founding members of the OECD. The work of the OECD covers governmental policy areas such as macroeconomic policies, trade, agriculture, taxation, finance, competition, education, health, environment, investment, industry, technology, information and communication, transportation, sectoral development, and social security. On the other hand, the OECD also serves as a forum that enables discussion in these policy areas.

The main purpose of the OECD is to inform its members about the best policy alternatives that are developed on the basis of the most contemporary data and analysis regarding the policy areas mentioned above. The OECD aims at developing global solutions for global problems. In this vein, the OECD can also be defined as a think-tank with high level of analytical capacity. Objectivity, openness, courage, pioneering, and being ethical are among the core values of the OECD.

INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONING OF THE OECD  

OECD conducts its work via the General Council that gathers once a year at the ministerial level, and committees and working parties that address various topics. OECD has a Secretariat directed by the Secretary General in order to conduct daily functioning of the OECD. In addition, topic-based studies are also conducted by the special bodies such as the International Energy Agency.  The current OECD Secretary General is Mathias Cormann. The current Secretary-General of the OECD is Mathias Cormann, the 6th Secretary-General, whose five-year term began in June 2021. In 2025, he was appointed for a second term, to serve until 2031.

Because of the variety of topics, the work of the OECD is followed by various institutions in Türkiye. Ministry of Trade is the “National Coordination Unit” of the OECD’s Trade Committee, Steel Committee, and Committee on Consumer Policy.

The coordination among the National Coordination Units is essential in order to ensure better cooperation between our country and the OECD. Therefore, under the coordination role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a coordination meeting is hold in Ankara every year with the participation of the all-national coordination points. Within the scope of this meeting, the current and future work related to the OECD is discussed.

THE OECD ISTANBUL CENTRE

“The Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the Establishment of the OECD Istanbul Centre” between Türkiye and the OECD was signed in May 31, 2018 in Paris.

Within the scope of its work the OECD Istanbul Centre will focus on the topics such as competition, entrepreneurship, trade, public governance, innovation, mobilization of human capital, interconnectivity and development of infrastructure, increasing economic resilience, green growth. The OECD Istanbul Centre will develop policies in these fields, and provide a sphere for dialogue among different shareholders. In addition, the OECD Istanbul Centre will help the transfer of the OECD instruments, peer reviews, and best practices into Türkiye.

To achieve these objectives, the Centre organises meetings, workshops, and seminars at various levels. In this context, the OECD Emerging Markets Forum was held in Istanbul on 10 April 2025 in cooperation with our Ministry and the OECD Istanbul Centre. The event hosted numerous high-level representatives from OECD member and partner countries.

The Forum opened with remarks delivered by Minister of Trade H.E. Ömer Bolat, OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure H.E. Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, and Egypt’s Deputy Minister for Investment and Foreign Trade Ghada Nour.

On the margins of the Forum, Minister of Trade H.E. Ömer Bolat held a bilateral meeting with OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann. Following the meeting, the “Protocol on the Renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Türkiye and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on the Establishment of the OECD Istanbul Centre” was signed.

The OECD Istanbul Centre serves as a regional hub for the OECD, particularly focusing on the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa. Therefore, the outputs of the Centre’s work benefit not only Türkiye but also neighboring regions, especially the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa.

OECD MINISTERIAL COUNCIL MEETINGS

OECD Ministerial Council is the main decision body of the OECD. OECD Ministerial Council comes together every year with the participation of the related ministers of the member countries in order to discuss the economic and social topics that comprise the world agenda, and set the priorities of the OECD.

The most recent OECD Ministerial Council Meeting was held in Paris on 3–4 June 2025, with the participation of Minister of Trade H.E. Ömer Bolat.

OECD TRADE COMMITTEE

Within the scope of OECD Trade Committee, OECD member countries discuss the trade relations and policies, and set the trade agenda of OECD. The discussions within OECD Trade Committee have important reflections to the agendas of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and G20.

OECD STEEL COMMITTEE

OECD Steel Committee serves as a platform for the discussions regarding the challenges that the global steel sector encounters, and in this committee corrective policy suggestions are developed against these challenges. The discussions in this committee aim at making the steel sector more open, transparent, and sustainable.

OECD Steel Committee focuses on the topics such as recent developments in the steel market, global excess capacity, environmental performance, steel trade, sectoral competition, and state aid to raw materials and steel sector.

OECD COMMITTEE ON CONSUMER POLICY

The global economy is in a transition, and the consumption channels and habits are changing currently. Under these circumstances, the protection of consumers and developing policies related to consumers emerge as more important topics than they were in the past. OECD Committee on Consumer Policy develops policies in order to ensure the protection of the rights of the consumers in today’s market conditions.