Luxembourg Reaffirms Support for Ukraine Reconstruction at OECD Council Meeting in Paris

On Tuesday 9 June 2022, Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Yuriko Backes, participated in the meeting of the Council of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at Ministerial level in Paris.

Chaired this year by Italy, with Mexico and Norway as vice-chairs, the meeting was held under the theme "The future we want: better policies for the next generation and for a transition sustainable". The difficult international context marked by the military aggression perpetrated by Russia against Ukraine and its economic consequences were at the heart of the discussions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also addressed ministers via videoconference.

In his keynote address, Secretary General Mathias Cormann underscored that Russia's "unjustified and illegal" aggression against Ukraine is negatively impacting the global economy, already battered by the pandemic. He underlined that the OECD is ready to put all its capacities at the service of a well-coordinated programme of rehabilitation and reconstruction of Ukraine. It is in this context that an OECD-Ukraine liaison office has been created to deepen relations between OECD and Ukraine, in order to support the latter in its reconstruction efforts.

Mr Cormann also recalled that in this difficult context, the world must not lose sight of the more general challenges that it will have to face in the long term, and he underlined the need to continue structural reforms in the coming years, in order to ensure the green and digital transitions of economies and societies.

In her speech, Minister Backes said: “The decarbonisation of our economies, the digital transformation of our societies, but also the reconstruction of Ukraine in the aftermath of the war, call for common responses.” She added: “The war has changed the geopolitical game and caused a reassessment of energy security. More than ever, we need an institution like the OECD to provide political responses and to promote multilateral solutions to global challenges.”

Minister Backes also participated in a session devoted to future co-operation between the OECD and Africa. The OECD has underlined its interest in this region in the global strategy it recently adopted.

On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, Minister Backes had a bilateral meeting with the OECD Secretary General Cormann. The discussions mainly focused on the priorities of the Organization in the current uncertain context and the latest economic outlook published by the OECD.

Minister Backes had bilateral meetings with Mario Marcel Cullel, Minister of Finance of Chile and Kisun Bang, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea. She discussed with them ways to strengthen bilateral relations, especially in trade and the financial sector.

Finally, Minister Backes had a meeting with the vice-president of the ministerial, the Minister of Finance of Mexico, Rogelio Ramírez de la O. The discussions focused on the development of bilateral relations and in particular in the field of pension funds and investment funds.