OREANDA-NEWS. June 6, 2008. First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrey Denisov, leading a Russian interagency delegation, took part in the meeting of the Council of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) held in Paris on June 4-5.

For the first time our country, along with Israel, Slovenia, Chile and Estonia, participated in the work of the OECD’s highest governing body in the capacity of an official candidate for membership in the OECD. In the framework of the event, such topical issues for members of the international community were discussed as the situation in the world economy and finances, the steep rise in food prices, the interlink between climate change and development, progress in the WTO Doha Round of multilateral trade talks, and the activity of sovereign world funds. The Russian delegation took part in practically all Council sessions.

In the course of the meetings with senior OECD officials and heads of delegations from member countries the Russian side reaffirmed its firm desire to join the Organization and the intention to make a constructive contribution to its work. A useful exchange of views took place on current issues in the organization and holding of talks on the terms of accession to the OECD and preparation of a national memorandum on the conformance of Russian legislation to the legal and regulatory base of the Organization.