Barbados has been elected to serve as a member and Vice Chair of the Steering Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Global Forum.

Word of this has come from Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, who recently attended the Seventh Annual Meeting of the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, in Berlin from October 28 to 29.

The Minister was accompanied by Advisor to the Ministry of International Business, Francoise Hendy-Yarde, who is based at the Barbados High Commission in London.

Mr. Inniss stated that he welcomed the opportunity to participate in the stewardship of what now has become the world???s largest body dealing with matters of international tax diplomacy, and whose decisions affect Barbados, the wider membership of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), CARIFORUM and the broader collective of small developing states.

Noting that since Independence in 1966 Barbados has maintained a solid track record of leadership in global matters, the Minister pointed out that this was pertinent to the welfare of small island developing states, particularly in the areas of climate change, health, sustainable development, human rights and labour.

The international tax and transparency agenda, he continued, was another area that Barbados looked forward to bringing its tried and tested experience.

Barbados will join 18 other members of the Steering Committee, which includes 13 from the OECD, European Union and the G20: France, India, China, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Brazil, the United States, Italy and Indonesia; two from the African Union: South Africa and Kenya; one British Overseas Territory: the Cayman Islands; and one British Crown Dependency: the Isle of Man.

theresa.blackman@barbados.gov.bb

Pin It on Pinterest