BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, June 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —

?

– DTA Initialed with Iceland, and Protocols to DTAs with Sweden,
Norway and Finland also Initialed

?

Barbados has initialed Tax Information Exchange Agreements
(TIEA) with Nordic Council member Denmark and its dependencies
Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Commenting on this development, the Minister with responsibility
for International Business and International Transport, Minister
George Hutson, M. P., confirmed that Barbados intended to move
quickly to have these agreements brought into force as they are
important means of pursuing the country’s longstanding policy of
facilitating the reciprocal exchange of tax information. He noted
however, that as a tax-treaty based jurisdiction with a worldwide
system of taxation, Barbados’ would continue to pursue the
negotiation of Double Taxation Agreements (DTA) with its OECD
Global Forum partners in order to apply the international standard
on tax information exchange and support the country’s economic
development.

Minister Hutson commended the Nordic Council on their approach
to the OECD Global Forum’s work on implementing the international
standard on tax information exchange. “We think that where
sovereign states have a choice about what kind of instrument to use
to codify the globally accepted standard on information exchange
with respect to tax matters it is important that the process admit
the possibility of dialogue as the best approach, especially where
one country expresses an interest in using an instrument that will
not only apply the standard but could support the economic
development strategies of both countries,” noted the Minister. In
that context the Minister said that Barbados was heartened by
Denmark’s openness to tax treaty talks, expressed during the just
concluded negotiations.

Speaking about the work of the OECD Global Forum to date,
Minister Hutson remarked that Barbados’ experience with Denmark and
its dependencies demonstrates the importance of the Forum in
facilitating bilateral talks aimed at applying the international
standard in the context of supporting the efforts of member states
to rebuild and strengthen their economies in the wake of the
economic recession.

Barbados also initialed a tax treaty with Iceland, and protocols
to its existing tax treaties with Sweden, Norway and Finland.
In-keeping with its policy on information exchange with respect to
tax matters, these agreements will allow both Barbados and the
Nordic Council members to apply the Global standard on a reciprocal
basis.

About Invest Barbados

Invest Barbados (IB) is an economic development agency of the
Government of Barbados. IB is responsible for attracting, winning
and sustaining investment for Barbados. The agency is also
responsible for promoting the export of indigenous services and
goods while managing and developing the Barbados business
brand.

For more information or to arrange for an interview with a
spokesperson for Invest Barbados or American World Clinics, please
contact:

Karen Nussbaum
Mansfield Communications
225 Richmond Street West, Suite 302
Toronto ON M5V 1W2
+1-416-301-3193, karen@mcipr.com