A ceremony held in Paris on January 28 marked Romania’s accession as an associate member of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC), Secretary of State with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Luca Niculescu, who attended the event, wrote on Facebook.

He noted that seeing Romania’s flag at the OECD was a significant moment, highlighting that Romania is the first country to obtain associate-member status in the DAC, the main international body that sets standards for development assistance and promotes best practices for poverty reduction and sustainable development.

Romania became in December the first country to obtain associate-member status in the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the body coordinating official development assistance to developing countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on December 19. The ministry said the decision reflects the steady increase in Romania’s development-assistance contributions in recent years and the strengthening of its profile as a consistent and credible donor.

 According to the same source, Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said the new status reflects a significant shift in Romania’s role, showing that the country is now able to provide support rather than only receive it, and that international partners view Romania with trust and respect.

The ministry reported that Romania’s official development assistance reached 539.1 million US dollars in 2024, representing 0.16% of gross national income – the highest level to date.

Romania directs its development-assistance programmes toward ten states in the wider Black Sea region, the Western Balkans, the Middle East and Africa, with the Republic of Moldova as its priority partner. The ministry also underlined Romania’s continued support for Moldova’s European integration, including through the Strategic Partnership dedicated to this objective.