Colombia’s finance minister on Thursday described Colombia’s invitation to join international economic organization the OECD as a “step towards modernity” and a sign of acceptance by the “limited group of developed countries.”
Minister Mauricio Cardenas released the statement after Colombia’s invitation to start membership talks was confirmed by the OECD council in the morning.
MORE: OECD invites Colombia to begin membership talks
“Being a member of this organization is joining a club of good practices” said the minister, echoing the words delivered by President Juan Manuel Santos when Colombia applied to join the international organization in 2012. “It gives a mark of quality to the handling of our economic policies. Many aspire to join, but few actually achieve it” he said.
Cardenas revealed that a key factor in the OECD’s decision to invite Colombia was the approval of progressive tax reforms addressing fiscal inequality in the country, which entered into force at the beginning of 2013 and which the minister claimed helped Colombia address its “legislative blind spot” which resulted in an “excessive reliance on the taxing of salaries.”
MORE: Colombia passes progressive tax reform
The minister also said that Congress agreed to continue with the reform, which will modify measures the OECD had reportedly qualified as “distorting and likely to generate informality,” although some critics of the reform have cast doubt on how much impact the new economic policies will actually have.
MORE: Colombia tax reform receives mixed reactions
After this morning’s announcement, Colombia has become the third country from the region to be invited to join the organization, along with Mexico and Chile, and now holds the record for the quickest country to achieve invitation in the history of the OECD.
Sources
- Colombia entra a la modernidad al ser invitada como miembro de la OCDE: MinHacienda (Ministerio de Hacienda y Credito Publico)
- Palabras del Presidente Juan Manuel Santos sobre el ingreso de Colombia a la OCDE (Presidencia de la Republica)