The OECD Council is expected to approve Israel's accession to the organization tomorrow, Ministry of Finance officials said today. The OECD Council comprises ambassadors from all 31 member states, all of whom will attend the special meeting to approve the accession of new members.
"Everything is ready and prepared, both politically and professionally. There's a 99.9% probability that they will approve," a senior Ministry of Finance official said. Commenting on rumors that some countries may torpedo's Israel's accession for political reasons, the official said, "There's all kind of background noise. There are all kinds of countries with arguments, such as Norway, Switzerland, and Ireland, but these countries don’t have a majority, and the near-universal consensus is in favor of Israel's accession."
According to the timetable, after tomorrow's approval by the OECD Council, the accession ceremony will be held on May 27, under the auspices of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz, Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Benjamin Ben-Eliezer will represent Israel.
The prime ministers of Estonia and Slovenia, which are also due to join the OECD, will attend the ceremony.
OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria is due in Israel on June 29 to sign the accession agreement with Netanyahu.
Upon its accession, beginning at the end of May, Israel will be able to send representatives to all OECD committees, and it will have voting rights beginning at the end of June.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 9, 2010
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