The Central American country is the 38th Member State of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

On May 21st, Costa Rica finally became a member of the OECD, an organization also popularly known as the “rich country club”, as its members represent 80% of world trade and more than half of global GDP.

Costa Rica is the fourth country in Latin America to do so, joining Mexico, Chile and Colombia.

Having formally demonstrated interest in membership in 2012, Costa Rica recently concluded a long accession process that lasted close to a decade and went through three Presidents. San José’s diplomacy thus put an end to a long approval process, which officially began in April 2015, having gone through a period of 5 years in which technical adjustments and political reforms were made. These focused on the areas of competition policy, the national statistical system, anti-corruption measures and fiscal transparency, so that they corresponded to the standards required by the organization.

After the completion of the reforms, in mid-2020 the organization formally extended the invitation to Costa Rica, which was approved by the Legislative Assembly on May 17, 2021 and ratified by President Carlos Alvarado on the 21st.

Source: Sistema de Integración Centroamericana (SICA), Available at: https://www.sica.int/noticias/secretario-general-del-sica-vinicio-cerezo-felicita-a-costa-rica-por-su-ingreso-a-la-ocde_1_122081.html

Costa Rica’s membership will allow the country to participate in more than 300 committees and working groups to learn about the experiences of other countries and the organization’s recommendations for the development of public policies in areas such as taxation, climate change or public education. Additionally, membership in the OECD constitutes a sign of credibility and trust for investors due to the demanding legal and economic standards required to belong to the organization – something especially important when considering the urgency of economic recovery in the face of the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. .

The Secretary General of the OECD, Angel Gurría, declared that Costa Rica’s accession “came at a time where multilateralism is more important than ever”, praising the inter-party commitment within the process. He also added that “the work does not end with accession”, being in reality the “beginning of a new stage”.