Egypt Joins Global Forum On Transparency

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

11 August 2016

Egypt has joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, the OECD has announced.

By joining the Global Forum, Egypt has committed to the implementation of the international standard of exchange of information on request. In addition, Egypt will work towards the implementation of the global standard of automatic exchange of financial account information within a "practicable timeframe."

The Global Forum's aim is to ensure that all jurisdictions adhere to the same high standard of international cooperation in tax matters. Jurisdictions' adherence to the standard is monitored through a peer review process.

Amr EL-Garhy, Egypt's Finance Minister, said: "Egypt is proud to join the international community in the fight against tax evasion and tax avoidance. This is a key area for our country and we stand ready to work closely with all Global Forum members as well as the Global Forum Secretariat to reach our goals in implementing the standards on exchange of information on request and automatic exchange of financial account information."

Egypt becomes the Global Forum's 135th member, and the 22nd African member of the group.

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