"On December 14, 1960, a group of countries that shared the same values of freedom and democracy signed the agreement that transformed the European Organization for Economic Development, created in 1948 to administer the Marshall Plan, into the Organization for Development and Economic Cooperation.
The agreement - underlines President Mattarella in the message on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding agreement of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - laid the foundations for an international collaboration which, based on the experience it has modeled after the war reconstruction, it helped to promote development.
In recent decades, the OECD has been able to interpret and implement in the best way what a multilateral organization can offer, based on the principle of comparison and exchange of experiences in an exercise that is always based on evidence.
The initiatives in the field of investment protection, for the transparency of the markets, in the coordination of social and fiscal policies, in the fight against tax evasion, the tireless action in the fight against corruption, the monitoring of the effectiveness of educational policies make OECD a precious expression of the ability of the international community to organize itself.
Today the pandemic emergency requires the OECD to show the same spirit that animated its early years.
As sixty years ago, the Organization is faced with the challenge of identifying fundamental choices for our societies that allow us to resume the path of progress, mending the heavy social divisions we are witnessing.
Only a collective effort, only effective multilateralism, will be able to allow the international community to overcome this emergency and - adds the head of state - to face global challenges, from climate change, to migration flows, to digitization and to that, today more than ever current. , of building resilient companies.
The intent of designing an updated development model capable of transforming challenges into opportunities requires a broad, common response that embraces society as a whole.
Italy is proud to have contributed to the action of the OECD in recent decades, with its support and the contribution of the numerous compatriots who participate daily in its activities and attributes to the Organization a role capable of influencing the evolution of current international situation ".