Mexico's former Finance Minister Angel Gurria, has been formally appointed chief of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the OECD said in a statement on Wednesday.

Gurria, 55, is a highly respected figure at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and played a key role in rescuing Mexico from a financial crisis in 1994.

Currently acting as adviser or board member for a number of private companies, multilateral institutions and non-profit associations focusing on development, international finance and globalization, he is to replace Canadian Donald Johnston as the research institution's secretary general on June 1, 2006, according to the OECD.

"As Secretary-General he will oversee the work of the OECD's secretariat, whose staff of 2,000 economists, lawyers and others assist governments in tracking and addressing issues relating to national economies and the global economic environment," the OECD said in a statement, adding that one of his priorities would be to coordinate the OECD's work between its 30 member countries and other nations.

He emerged with former Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka, the other remaining candidate at the top of a long list of candidates, including former French finance minister Alain Madelin, former South Korean trade minister Han Seung-Soo, former chairman of the Australian competition and consumer commission Allan Fels, and former economics advisor to the Japanese prime minister Sawako Takeuchi.

Mexico is the only Latin American member of the Paris-based OECD, which, created in 1960, groups 30 member states sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy to carry out research on economic and social issues.

Outgoing Secretary General Donald Johnston has stressed that his successor should concentrate on recruiting new members, particularly emerging countries with regional importance such as China, India, Brazil and Russia.

Johnston had favored a candidate from Asia, described by him as "the epicenter of world economic growth."

Source: Xinhua