Uzbekistan joins the international fight against tax evasion by becoming the 164th member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. Like all Global Forum members, Uzbekistan will participate on an equal footing and commits to combatting tax evasion through the implementation of the internationally agreed standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes (exchange of information on request and automatic exchange of information).

"We are delighted to welcome Uzbekistan as the latest Global Forum member," said Maria José Garde, Chair of the Global Forum. "The regular extension of the Forum's membership highlights the importance of tax transparency for the international community and the resolve of governments to come together to fight and prevent tax evasion and avoidance."

Members of the Global Forum include all G20 countries, all OECD members, all international financial centres and a large number of developing countries. As member of the Global Forum, Uzbekistan will be invited to participate in the recently launched Asia Initiative, a programme focused on Asian countries and aimed at tackling tax evasion and avoidance, corruption and illicit financial flows to enhance domestic resource mobilisation in the region.

The Global Forum is the leading multilateral body mandated to ensure that jurisdictions around the world adhere to and effectively implement both the exchange of information on request standard and the standard of automatic exchange of information. These objectives are achieved through a robust monitoring and peer review process, which Uzbekistan will be subjected to. The Global Forum also runs an extensive capacity-building programme to support its members in implementing the standards and help tax authorities make the best use of cross-border information sharing channels.