OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría said: “We are very pleased to welcome Lithuania as a member of this ‘house of best practices,’ joining us in our collective endeavour to provide answers to the leading economic, social and environmental challenges of our time. Lithuania’s membership will help enrich the OECD’s work through the country’s unique experience in several policy areas, while membership in the OECD will support Lithuania’s efforts to improve the well-being of its own citizens. I look forward to my visit to Vilnius in early July to celebrate this important outcome.”

Throughout its accession process, Lithuania has been reviewed by 21 OECD Committees on two fronts: an evaluation of the country’s willingness and ability to implement substantive OECD legal instruments, as well as a detailed assessment of Lithuania’s policies as compared to OECD best practices.

As part of the process, Lithuania undertook a number of important reforms in areas such as the corporate governance of listed and state-owned enterprises, anti-corruption and investment.

Lithuania was invited to open accession talks in 2015. Membership talks with Costa Rica and with Colombia are currently ongoing.

For further information journalists are invited to contact the OECD's Media division on + 33 1 4524 9700.

More information on OECD's work on Lithuania: http://www.oecd.org/countries/lithuania/

More information on how accession to the OECD works: www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/enlargement.htm.