The United States government formally nominated Chris Liddell on October 20 to be the next Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the influential Paris-based thirty-seven-member international economic policy group.  Current OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria’s third five-year term will expire mid-2021. The selection process is underway with multiple candidates nominated, headed toward a final selection in early 2021.

Liddell is currently serving as Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination. He is a dual national, American and his native New Zealand. According to USCIB Senior Advisor and Former U.S. Ambassador Shaun Donnelly, Liddell brings a very impressive private sector resume to his current White House senior position and to his OECD candidacy. Prior to joining the Trump Administration, Liddell served as Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer at General Motors, where he led global finance operations and managed the company’s $23 billion IPO in November 2010, which, at that time, was the largest public offering in history. Liddell has more than three decades of experience in corporate leadership, including Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Microsoft Corporation and Chief Financial Officer of International Paper.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson welcomed Liddell’s nomination. “We at USCIB are pleased to see the U.S. government coming forward with a strong nominee for the important OECD Secretary General position, succeeding Angel Gurria with whom we have enjoyed working over the past fourteen years,” said Robinson. “We are particularly pleased to see a nominee with strong private sector background and hands-on policy experience at the top levels of the U.S. government. The competition for the post will be tough with other strong nominees but there has never been an OECD Secretary General from the U.S.”

The nomination process closed on November 1. The governments of Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Geece, Poland, Switzerland and Sweden have also formally nominated candidates for the Secretary General position. The United Kingdom Ambassador, as Dean (i.e. longest serving) of the OECD’s Council of Ambassadors, is leading the selection process. According to Donnelly, the target is to have the next Secretary General elected by the Council by March 1, 2021 and in place for a five-year term beginning June 1, 2021, presumably shortly after the organization’s annual Ministerial meeting scheduled to take place in Paris.

“USCIB and our business colleagues in the OECD’s Business at OECD (”BIAC”) organization hope to be able to play a constructive, informal role in the selection process,” said Donnelly.