It is essential that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development associates China and India with its work, OECD secretary general Donald Johnston said in an interview published Monday by the financial daily La Tribune.
"I said as soon as I arrived that we should have among our members countries such as China, which according to our own studies will be the world's second-biggest economy in 20 years, and India, which is not far behind," Johnston was quoted by the French-language newspaper as saying.
"It is essential to integrate them with our work. We do this, but it is not the same thing as having them at our table," he added.
Johnston said the reason a large number of countries sought to join the organisation was because they wanted to count among the developed countries as the group drew up recommendations and standards, and established guidelines that concerned them.
"Belonging to the OECD allows them to be there at the beginning. That also gives us more credibility," he said.