Bringing new leadership to the OECD

Unlike the WTO, the OECD isn’t a household name–but it should be. Many of the most pressing issues in international economic governance, from climate finance to financial transparency, to digital services tax are handled by the OECD. We are grateful to all candidates for taking the time to speak with us. As the race narrows to four, watch the candidates discuss their candidacy and the future of the organization.

The Atlantic Council would like to highlight this race as an opportunity for deeper cooperation among allies and partners.

Candidates:

*Cecilia Malmström, Former Commissioner of Trade at the European Commission

*Mathias Cormann, Former Minister of Finance, Australia

Anna Diamantopoulou, President of DIKTIO, Former Commissioner and Minister, Greece

Philipp Hildebrand, Vice Chairman, BlackRock, Former Chairman of Swiss National Bank

Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia

Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD

Michał Kurtyka, Minister of Climate and Environment, Poland

Bill Morneau, Former Minister of Finance, Canada

*Still in the running for Secretary-General

Cecilia Malmström

Former Commissioner of Trade at the European Commission

“OECD is this multilateral organization where member states come together to exchange experiences, to learn from each other, to build upon that research and expertise that is there..it has the brains.”

Mathias Cormann

Former Minister of Finance, Australia

“It will be important that we maintain the momentum particularly at this time so we can maximize the strength of the economic recovery in the wake of the covid pandemic to secure sustainable, greener, cleaner, [and] more inclusive growth.”

Anna Diamantopoulou

President of DIKTIO, Former Commissioner and Minister, Greece

“The OECD is a stabilizer, is an analyst, is a standard setter, and is a policy path-finder. It plays this role in economic terms, but geopolitically as well.”

Philipp Hildebrand

Vice Chairman, BlackRock, Former Chairman of Swiss National Bank

“I am optimistic that we can move towards a global framework on digital tax that aligns with the efforts the @OECD has taken so far”

Kersti Kaljulaid

President of Estonia

“I believe COVID-19 has shown to the whole world that quite a lot of our jobs are geographically neutral…instead of a simple global market for goods we are seeing a global services market developing.”

Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen

Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD

“[The OECD] is a good fit between the national approach and the multilateral approach, and maybe that is why the OECD in the future can solve some of the challenges internationally that seem to have been met with deadlock in some of the other international organizations.”

Michał Kurtyka

Minister of Climate and Environment, Poland

“The work has changed and I think also the organization needs to change…Now we need to make sure that the challenges of our time [like] post-COVID-19 recovery, climate, digital solidarity, [and] inequalities, are properly addressed.”

Bill Morneau

Former Minister of Finance, Canada

“I think there is a moment now where new leadership can take the organization to a new step. Support member countries but also help the world to build back better, to deal with climate change, to enable the investments in digitization that we all need…”