News Brief

Israel will be admitted to the OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, by the end of 2010, thanks to a deal finalized over the weekend between Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and OECD Secretary Genera Angel Gurria. At a meeting between the two in Paris, the two agreed to speed up Israel's acceptance into the organization, which is expected to improve Israel's standing in the credit market, as well as in the realms of agriculture, trade, and science.

The agreement will entail Israel's adjusting of several mechanisms in the economy to match the standards demanded by the OECD. The members of the OECD are considered the "first world" economies, and include the wealthy countries of Western Europe, the U.S., and South Korea. Russia, along with Israel, was invited for membership in 2007.