Prime Minister met with the Head of the OECD Mathias Cormann
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and Minister for Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis met with Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), visiting Lithuania. They discussed support for strengthening the institutions of Ukraine and implementation of reforms, as well as the initiatives that Lithuania, as a member of the OECD, and the Organisation are jointly implementing.
"Being sincere and active supporters of Ukraine, we see the importance of the OECD's role in strengthening the resilience of Ukraine's democratic institutions and in assisting in the implementation of reforms, which are also crucial for Ukraine's ability to move as quickly and smoothly as possible towards the European Union membership," said the Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
Lithuania was one of the first countries to get involved in the reconstruction and recovery process of Ukraine, with the first bilateral projects approved by the Government as early as in August 2022, and is contributing to bringing the country's reforms in line with the highest OECD standards, the Head of Government added. Successful reconstruction of the country requires institutions that function as efficiently as possible and are based on good governance practices.
The Prime Minister also stressed the importance of smooth coordination of actions between the OECD and the EU in order to avoid duplication and additional burden on the Ukrainian institutions, which are making great efforts to implement the reforms despite the Russia's ongoing brutal war.
The importance of the resilience of democracies, the achievement of which requires increased mutual cooperation in the context of growing hostility from authoritarian regimes was also discussed at the meeting. The OECD is an excellent platform for this, emphasised the Prime Minister, and the joint Lithuanian-OECD training programme on resilience and fight against disinformation is one of the practical examples of useful partnership and sharing of experience.
Representatives from Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Chile, Moldova, Republic of South Africa, Romania, Kenya, the Philippines, North Macedonia, and Ukraine took part in the first stage training in early June.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister also noted the importance of the OECD recommendations for Lithuania in achieving further qualitative progress in important areas of education, social protection, environment, public procurement and other, as well as the potential of cooperation between Lithuania and the OECD in implementing data-driven governance practices, which are a major focus for the Government.
