On 16 and 17 March more than 240 tax officials discussed solutions to end base erosion and profit shifting at the Global Forum on Transfer Pricing. During this meeting the experience of delegates and the practical impact of the current BEPS work on Transfer Pricing took centre stage. In his opening address, Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration welcomed developing countries as participants in the BEPS Project. "Your participation is vital for the BEPS Project. Learning from your experiences helps to develop new international standards for the global tax community."

The challenges faced and experience gained by developing countries also played an important role in the meeting of the Task Force on Tax and Development on March 18. In their outcomes statement, the Co-Chairs applauded the G20 mandate to the OECD and other international and regional organisations to work together to develop toolkits to support the practical implementation of the BEPS measures and the other priority issues for developing countries. "We appreciate the work done in cooperation with other international and regional organisations, building on the experience of developing and developed countries". The first outputs on Tax Incentives and on Transfer Pricing Comparables are scheduled to be presented in the second half of 2015.

Additionally, the meeting provided the opportunity for representatives from international and regional organisations to feedback the views of developing countries from the regional meetings on the BEPS Project. OECD's engagement with developing countries in the BEPS Project has been strongly supported by several international and regional organisations. This close cooperation was highlighted by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Centre de rencontres et d'études des dirigeants des administrations fiscales (CREDAF) on 16 March. CREDAF joined the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) and the Center for Inter-American Tax Administrators (CIAT) who already have MOUs with the OECD aimed at strengthening the partnership to improve tax policy and statistics and tax administration, and helping build greater capacity within the respective regions. This important agreement will support francophone countries in tax reform processes and facilitate closer engagement in the tax work of the OECD.