The OECD Council decides on the opening of accession discussions. Consideration to open an accession process can be made on the initiative of the Council itself or upon receipt of a written request by a country interested in OECD membership. An accession roadmap is then adopted by the Council, setting out the terms, conditions and process for accession. This roadmap lists the technical reviews to be undertaken by OECD committees in a wide range of policy areas in order to evaluate the candidate country’s willingness and ability to implement relevant OECD legal instruments, as well as its policies and practices compared with OECD best policies and practices in the corresponding policy area. This often results in a series of recommendations for change to align the candidate country further to OECD standards and best practices.

The OECD works closely with some of the world’s largest economies: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa, who are OECD Key Partners. They participate in the OECD’s daily work, bringing useful perspectives and increasing the relevance of policy debates. Key Partners participate in policy discussions in OECD bodies, take part in regular OECD surveys and are included in statistical databases. Ongoing engagement contributes to enhanced co-operation and to progressively bringing the Key Partners closer to OECD standards.

The OECD works closely with many countries through its regional initiatives, spaning Africa, Eurasia, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, South East Asia and South East Europe. The initiatives help facilitate policy benchmarking and the exchange of good practices between countries in a specific geographical area within and across regions. They also help guide countries towards globally recognised standards and ambitious reform agendas to unlock greater prosperity and well-being for citizens, including at a local and city level. Non-member countries and economies may also be invited to participate in OECD meetings through different levels of partnerships, as well as Global Forums.

The G20, G7 and APEC seek to foster global economic co-operation through international dialogue and coordinated action on shared challenges. The OECD contributes data, evidence-based analysis, standards and tools to help these global fora design innovative policy solutions in areas ranging from trade, investment, regulatory reform and taxation to AI, the digital and green transitions and gender equality.