President Carlos Alvarado reiterated to the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), José Ángel Gurría, the government’s intention to conclude the process of joining this forum by 2020.
This Tuesday, in the framework of the general assembly of the United Nations (UN), Alvarado held a meeting with Gurría. At the meeting, the President explained the status of the requirements that the country must meet to join this body.
Alvarado told the OECD secretary that in the last year outstanding progress has been made in the legislative agenda such as the approval of projects in areas such as competition, anti-bribery, financial markets, bank branches, erosion of the tax base and transfer of benefits (BEPS), statistics, independence of the Central Bank, and corporate governance of state enterprises.
Earlier this month the Minister of Commerce, Dyala Jiménez, said that Costa Rica’s entry to the OECD will be evaluated by the authorities of this body in March next year. If it’s approved with all its requirements, in May the country would receive the communication that would guarantee its incorporation.
These are the deadlines that the government is assessing, at a time when five laws might be approved in Congress to allow the country to join eight commissions of this forum, of a total of 22 that make it up.
Jiménez said the pending laws are a reform to the Board of Directors of the Costa Rican Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Incopesca), the reform of the Securities Market Regulatory Law and the Consolidated Supervision Law. These three, according to Jiménez are already in the Legislative Plenary.
Meanwhile, two other projects are being completed. One has to do with deposit insurance and bank security issues and another on aspects of financial consumer protection.