Barbados' International Business Minister, Donville Inniss, will not be "pulling any punches" at the upcoming Peer Review Group of the Global Forum of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris.
At that meeting, Mr. Inniss and his team are expected to defend Barbados' position since being blacklisted by the European Union (EU), along with several other Caribbean countries, for being an uncooperative tax jurisdiction.
In his address at a recent function, the Minister revealed that he would head a delegation comprising staff of his Ministry's International Business Division and the Barbados Revenue Authority, along with key European Advisors.
While in Paris, the team will also attend the Steering Group meeting of which Barbados is Vice Chair, and, according to him, represent the "voice of small states engaged in the international financial services".
He continued: "I expect that our meetings will be successful and will lead to an enhanced reputation for our domicile, and, by extension, more business for us."
Mr. Inniss further disclosed that he had received official notice from the EU of its intention to publish a list of uncooperative jurisdictions based on new guidelines developed by that organisation.
To this end, he said that he and his team had already started the consultative process to "protect Barbados' name and reputation as a transparent and well-regulated jurisdiction".
The International Business Minister added that Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Delisle Worrell, and a delegation were recently in Canada, where they continued to engage with stakeholders on the mutual advantages of doing business with Barbados.
The Minister disclosed that Mexico, Colombia and Latin America generally, continue to open up a market. "And, next month we will host a team from Cameroon in Africa for talks of tax and investment treaties."
Adapted from the Barbados Government Information Service
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