Angel Gurría has mandate to lead OECD renewed until 2021
Angel Gurría will remain secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) until 2021, it was announced on 26 May.
Gurría, who has been in his post since June 2006, has had his mandate renewed by a unanimous vote by the OECD’s 34 member countries.
Gurría said: “I am honoured and humbled by the trust and confidence the members have bestowed upon me, and look forward to continuing to transform the OECD into a cutting-edge international organisation to promote better policies for better lives.”
The OECD produced a brief report outlining how Gurría has transformed the organisation.
Ambassador Marten Kokk of Estonia, dean of the permanent representatives to the OECD, said Gurría “has rallied the strong support of member and partner countries to change the OECD into a ‘do-tank’, widely recognised today as a leader in addressing the most pressing economic, social, environmental and governance challenges on the global agenda.”
Before his time at the OECD, Gurría, who was born in Mexico, had a career in politics. He was Mexico’s minister of foreign affairs from December 1994 to January 1998, before working as minister of finance and public credit from January 1998 to December 2000.
For the first time in a generation, he steered Mexico’s economy through a change of Administration without a recurrence of the financial crises that had previously dogged such changes.
Gurría has participated in various international not-for-profit bodies, including the Population Council, based in New York, and the Center for Global Development based in Washington.
He chaired the International Task Force on Financing Water for All and continues to be involved in water issues, being a member of the United Nations Secretary General Advisory Board (UNSGAB) and of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Water Security.
He is also a member of the International Advisory Board of Governors of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, based in Canada, the Advisory Board for the Global Green Growth Forum, co-hosted by Korea and Denmark, and was recently appointed as a member of the Royal Academy of Economic and Financial Sciences of Spain.
Under his leadership, the OECD has expanded its membership to include Chile, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia and opened accession talks with Russia.
It has also strengthened its links with other major emerging economies, including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa, with a view to possible membership.
Gurría has reinforced the impact of OECD work in several domains, and has steered the launching of high profile initiatives, including strategies in green growth, gender, development and skills.
Gurría has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from UNAM in Mexico, and a Master’s degree in Economics from Leeds University in the UK.
He speaks Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Italian and some German.
About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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