17/02/2021 – The 2021 Global Forum capacity building report published today sets out the large amount of support activities conducted by the Global Forum. Despite challenging conditions, the Global Forum Secretariat ensured the continuity of its capacity-building programme in 2020, while increasing its support to jurisdictions. Key deliverables included:

• 70 jurisdictions benefitted from technical assistance
  
  
• 4 200 officials from 155 jurisdictions and 9 international organisations were trained through 26 events, 23 of which were held virtually
  
  
• 3 400 officials took the e-learning courses developed by the Global Forum, including the new modules on beneficial ownership and on exchange of information on request released in 2020
  
  
• 3 new toolkits were published

These activities are increasingly important in light of strained national budgets. With revenue mobilisation likely to play a central role in recovering from the economic consequences of the pandemic, jurisdictions, especially developing countries, are increasingly requesting technical assistance and other capacity building offerings.

Launched in 2011, the Global Forum capacity-building programme expanded over the years to cover new areas. It intensified to reflect the growing share of developing jurisdictions, which now make up 55% of the membership. In line with its Plan of Action for Developing Countries’ Participation in AEOI published in 2017, the Secretariat recently developed a new Capacity Building Strategy to achieve the greatest impact for all.

A core duty of the Global Forum Secretariat, capacity building aims at supporting and enabling a rapid and effective implementation of the transparency and exchange of information standards by all members. The objective is to ensure developing members effectively benefit from the standards by fighting more efficiently tax evasion and other illicit financial flows in order to mobilise domestic resources and finance their development. Globally, developing countries have identified at least EUR 29 billion through voluntary disclosure programmes and offshore tax investigations since 2009.

The Global Forum capacity-building programme is primarily funded by voluntary contributions and grants, through the generous contribution from Australia, the European Union, France, Japan, Norway, Senegal, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Their continuous backing and trust are critical to the short and long-term support provided to developing jurisdictions.

For further information, journalists should contact Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, (+33 1 45 24 91 08) or Zayda Manatta, Head of the Global Forum Secretariat (+33 1 45 24 82 29).