The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), headquartered in Paris, will open a central office in Istanbul that can develop policies on all issues.
According to information obtained from Economy Ministry sources, talks for the establishment of an Istanbul center for the organization have led to a memorandum of understanding, which will be signed tomorrow in Paris by Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria.
The OECD Istanbul center is expected to serve for five years in the first stage; however, this period can be extended with the mutual agreement of the parties.
Targeting Balkan and Middle Eastern countries with close historical and cultural ties to Turkey as well as North Africa, the center will operate with a direct line to the OECD headquarters in Paris.
Within the framework of the OECD Istanbul center's activities, the focus will be on areas such as competitiveness, entrepreneurship, trade, public governance, innovation, mobilization of human capital, development of connectivity and infrastructure, increasing economic resistance and green growth.
The center aims to create a dialogue environment among the stakeholders and to develop policies in these areas. In addition, the center will facilitate transfer of methods, such as the peer assessments of OECD tools and the sharing of best practices, to Turkey. It will be able to develop policies in all matters as in Paris, as opposed to the offices in Italy and Hungary with narrower scopes.
Meetings, workshops and seminars will be held at the center; high-level events will be hosted, communication between public and private sector will be developed and cooperation will be established with national, regional and international organizations.
Also with the comprehensive policy recommendations resulting from this process, projects conducted by Turkey and its neighboring region toward sustainable and inclusive growth will be supported.
The OECD's regional base will mainly concentrate on Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa. The countries in this geography will also benefit from the outputs of the studies conducted in the center which will develop high-quality policy recommendations for both Turkey and its neighboring region.
Representatives from OECD countries and other countries will be hosted at the center for meetings in Turkey and they will have the opportunity to get to know Turkey more closely. This will open a new page in Turkey's relations with the OECD as a co-founder and it will contribute greatly to the country's visibility in the international arena.