THE annual meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will take place virtually from May 31-June 1 and mark the beginning of the term of the new Secretary General, Australia's Mr Mathias Cormann.

This year's meeting will be held in two parts, in May-June and in the autumn, under the Chairmanship of the US with South Korea and Luxembourg as Vice chairs. The theme is ‘Shared Values: Building a Green and Inclusive Future.'

The meeting will see the transfer of leadership from current Secretary-General Mr Angel Gurria to the incoming Mr Cormann who will become the first Secretary-General to emerge from the Asia Pacific region.

The OECD's latest Economic Outlook, containing analysis and projections for its 37 member countries and other major economies, will be released on May 31. The handover event between the Secretaries-General will be on June 1.

Topics for the May-June gathering will include collaboration in the development and distribution of treatments and vaccines, exchanging information in tackling the pandemic, developing and implementing recovery plans to "build back better" and promoting policies to tackle climate change and other environmental challenges.

The OECD Council meetings at the ministerial level are the organisation's highest-level forum, attended by its members' and partners' ministers of finance, economy, foreign affairs, trade and other government departments. Representatives of other international multilateral organisations also attend.