OECD experts to visit Latvia to assess its readiness to join

Experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will be visiting Latvia from today (May 5) until May 8, in order to assess the country's readiness to join the organisation, the Justice Ministry has informed LETA.

The Justice Ministry's State Secretary Raivis Kronbergs says that Latvia is currently actively working on becoming a full-fledged member of the OECD, and that this is one of the country's priorities.

"Being a member of this organisation will prove that we have successfully joined the world's most developed countries," says Kronbergs, at the same time expressing gratitude for the high-ranking experts' decision to meet representatives of Latvian institutions and organisations to assess Latvia's readiness to join the OECD.

Experts from Switzerland and the Czech Republic, and the secretariat of the Task Force on Combating Bribery of Public Officials will assess Latvia's achievements regarding the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, as well as the country's progress in implementing of the recommendations made.

A delegation of OECD experts will meet representatives from the Justice Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Economy Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Prosecutor General's Office, the Corruption Prevention Bureau, the Financial and Capital Market Commission, the Bank of Latvia, the State Police, the State Revenue Service, the Procurement Monitoring Bureau, the State Chancellery, the State Audit Office, non-governmental organizations, as well as Saeima deputies, judges, certified auditors and lawyers, and media representatives.