The government on Sunday ratified Israel's membership of the OECD club of developed economies, with the cabinet hailing it as a "diplomatic and economic" achievement. "Israel's accession to the OECD is an expression of confidence in Israel's economy as a leading developed economy," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a cabinet statement.
The cabinet welcomed the "diplomatic and economic importance" of joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Netanyahu in May attended a ceremony at the Paris headquarters of the OECD to mark the entry of Israel, Estonia, Slovenia and Chile into a club which now comprises 35 nations.
OECD membership means Israel's status with foreign investment funds switches from that of an emerging economy to a developed one, opening up new sources of capital. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said, however, that membership did not mean Israel could now take it easy. "We still have a lot of work to do," he told the y-net news website. "Israel will be asked to continue to prove the health and stability of its economy and from today must meet binding rules and standards of the OECD."
Joining the OECD marks a strong recovery for the economy of Israel, which in the late 1970s and early 1980s was plagued by triple-digit inflation and forced to repeatedly devalue its currency.
Israel's per capita Gross Domestic Product was estimated at 28,400 dollars (23,000 euros) in 2009, ranking it 22nd among OECD members, behind Italy but ahead of Mexico, Portugal and South Korea. With Israel having weathered the global economic crisis well, GDP grew by 0.7 percent in 2009, compared to an OECD average of minus 3.3 percent.
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