MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile becomes second Latinamerica country invited to join OECD

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria makes the official announcement

Chile was invited Tuesday to become the 31st member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, only the second Latin American country to receive the offer, the OECD has announced.

Chile is expected to formally accept the invitation when an accession agreement is signed January 11 in Santiago.

The country has been in negotiations to join the organization for two years, the OECD reported Tuesday. Currently, Mexico is the only Latin American member of the organization. The group said the offer came in recognition of Chile's efforts to develop a market-based economy.

For the OECD, “the accession of Chile is a great contribution in our drive to expand our global reach and to transform the organization into a more plural and inclusive institution that will play an increasingly important role in the global economic architecture,” OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said during an OECD ceremony.

The OECD also known as the club of the developed countries was founded in 1961.

Chile was one of five countries invited to begin negotiations back in 2007 together with Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia.

“The invitation confirms that Chile is taking the appropriate steps to reform its economy, including areas of corporate government, anti-corruption and environment protection”, said the OECD release.

Chile’s Finance minister Andres Velasco said that the invitation is “an acknowledgement of the successful policies Chile has been implementing during the last two decades”.