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John Martin said at a press conference on Tuesday in the Estonian foreign ministry that the biggest challenge for Estonia as well as for other OECD states is how to prevent the continuing growth of unemployment and how fast it is possible to create new jobs.

While in Estonia unemployment was 4-5% before the global economic crisis, it means a fall of nearly 10%, said Martin.

“You should be realists. Earlier experiences of OECD states show that it may take 5-10 years before unemployment falls from high level to normal,” said Martin.

OECD representative stressed that in Estonia it is also important to reduce the poverty risks in certain categories of population, like the jobless.

Martin also said that attention should be paid to pensioners. He sees risks in the Estonian pension system since the differences in pension levels are too big.

As reported,  Estonia’s membership fee in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is 2.4 million euros a year said foreign minister Urmas Paet on Tuesday.

Paet said at a press conference that being one of the OECD countries increases considerably Estonia’s possibilities but also obligations.

“OECD membership gives Estonia a whole number of possibilities of participating in developing policies in very different spheres, that are followed by not just OECD members but many other world states too,” said Paet.

OECD secretary general Angel Gurria announced on Monday that Estonia will get the invitation to join the organisation on March 27 in Paris.