(L-R) Nadia Ernzer, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to OECD; Gilles Roth, Minister of Finance; Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary-General; Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade;
Credit: MAE
As reported by their respective government ministries, Luxembourg's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Xavier Bettel, and the Minister of Finance, Gilles Roth, participated in the Ministerial Council Meeting (MCM) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris on Thursday 2 and Friday 3 May 2024, with a focus on sustainable and inclusive growth.
Divided into six different sessions, the discussions focused primarily on possible solutions to make the economy and society sustainable and inclusive, noted the ministries, as well as the role of the OECD and the international community in facing the major challenges of international trade.
During the various sub-groups, the ministers focused in particular on issues linked to climate change, the environment and development, as well as the need to deploy integrated efforts to meet these challenges, in particular in terms of mobilisation of financial resources, confidence building and gender equality. These efforts will notably involve the enlargement of the OECD and the promotion of its standards, added Luxembourg's foreign and finance ministries.
Minister Bettel spoke at the plenary session about "Promoting free trade and investment to accelerate healthy economic growth". In a context marked by geopolitical tensions, Minister Bettel underlined the need for regular multilateral dialogue in order to collectively address shared challenges, a crucial element in working towards inclusive and sustainable growth for the benefit of citizens.
In his speech, Minister Roth recalled: “We are facing global challenges that require common solutions on a global scale. We must join our respective strengths and expertise across regions and, as members of the OECD, work closely with the developing world. I am convinced that the financial sector is one of the drivers of this positive transformation.”
Both Ministers Bettel and Roth held several bilateral meetings as well. Minister Bettel met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Mauro Vieira, the Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica, Manuel Tovar Rivera, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico, Gabriel Yorio González, and Ireland's Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke, to strengthen bilateral relations.
For his part, Minister Roth met OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann and the Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, Manal Corwin. Minister Roth mandated the OECD to carry out a study on the management of public finances in Luxembourg, the main axes of which relate to the modernisation of budgeting practices, the introduction of budgetary management by objectives and the strengthening internal controls and audits.
Luxembourg's Finance Minister commented: “We wish to take advantage of the experience of the OECD and international best practices, in particular by introducing an approach which makes it possible to better align budget management with political objectives.”
Minister Roth also met with the Minister of Finance of Chile, Mario Marcel Culell, and the Parliamentary Secretary at HM Treasury (UK), Baroness Vere of Norbiton, as well as the future Chief Economist of the OECD, Álvaro Santos Pereira, with whom he discussed the future economic study on Luxembourg as well as the new economic perspectives of the OECD.
