Economics, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Legislation, Lithuania

Angel Gurria and Dalia Grybauskaite. Paris, 30.11.2015. Photo: lrp.lt

“Yesterday in Paris, I had a chance to meet with Angel Gurria, Secretary General of the OECD, who said that the progress is good, big and many things are now actually moving ahead in synergy. It means that Lithuania will be able to become a member of this organization soon, perhaps not next year, but some time starting from 2017, at least I’d like to hope so. Membership in the OECD means prestige, quality, possibilities to consult,” Dalia Grybauskaite said at an annual economic forum in Vilnius on Tuesday.

Lithuania had achieved much in its efforts to become modern and to move ahead, she said, adding that the country still lacked investment in research.

“It’s not enough to be happy, it’s necessary to move ahead… If we look at Eurostat’s data, at our investment in research, we rank tenth from the bottom of the list. Well, at least not third from the bottom, at least somewhere in the middle. As optimistic as we may be, there still are many possibilities to direct our investment towards science,” Grybauskaite said.

The OECD, often referred to as the “rich countries’ club”, now has 34 members.