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Chile is set to become the OECD's 31st member country. It is a momentous occasion, as captured in the following extracts from speeches by President Michelle Bachelet of Chile and by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria, following the signing of the agreement on the terms of accession by the Republic of Chile to the OECD Convention, delivered in Santiago, Chile, 11 January 2010.
President Bachelet: The "legitimate and genuine happiness" of which I speak is also matched by a sense of satisfaction and pride because this [Accession] Agreement, although simply the first step on a path of collaboration between Chile and OECD member countries, is also a ringing endorsement of all the progress we have made as a country during these years of freedom and democracy for all Chilean people. What has happened over the last 20 years is historic. Chile has shaken off underdevelopment and is well on the way to achieving developed nation status in a few years' time. But joining the OECD is much more than recognition.
In particular, as Angel Gurria noted, it is the first...