On Friday 1 July 2016, the Paris Club hosted an international conference at the French Ministry of Finance to celebrate its 60^th anniversary and welcome the Republic of Korea as its 21^st member.

The Paris Club gathered high-level officials for an international conference in Paris to take stock of 60 years of sovereign debt restructurings and to discuss the current and forward-looking challenges of sustainable financing, orderly sovereign debt restructuring and more generally the international financial architecture of official debt.

At the end of this conference, the Paris Club proudly welcomed Korea as its 21^st member. After almost 20 years of cooperation with the Paris Club, the Republic of Korea has decided to become a full member. Korea’s membership will reinforce the Paris Club as the principal international forum for restructuring official bilateral debt, which allows more efficient, timely and orderly resolution of sovereign debt crises. It also demonstrates the Paris Club’s ability to expand its membership to emerging creditors on the basis of shared principles and to foster an open and constructive dialogue among sovereign creditors.

Opening statements

Odile RENAUD-BASSO, Director General of the Treasury and Chairperson of the Paris Club

Jacques de LAROSIÈRE,  Honorary Governor of Banque de France, former Chairman of the Paris Club

 

The Paris Club in the international financial system: 60 years of effective contribution from an informal institution

Benoît COEURÉ, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank

Daniel Kablan DUNCAN, Prime Minister, Côte d’Ivoire

Christian NOYER, Honorary Governor of Banque de France and former Chairman of the Paris Club

Luiz PEREIRA DA SILVA, Deputy General Manager, Bank for International Settlements

 

Keynote intervention

Christine LAGARDE, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

 

Sovereign actors and the changing landscape of official debt restructuring

Tiémoko Meyliet KONE, Governor of the Central Bank of the West African States

Joaquim LEVY, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer, World Bank

Jean-Claude TRICHET, former President of the European Central Bank and former chairman of the Paris Club

Tao ZHANG, Deputy Governor, People’s Bank of China

Nathan SHEETS, Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs, United States

 

Concluding remarks

Michel SAPIN, Minister of Finance and Public Accounts, France

 

Sang Mok CHOI, Vice-Minister of Strategy and Finance, Republic of Korea

 

The Republic of Korea – Accession Ceremony as the 21^st member of the Paris Club