The importance for developing countries of expanding and strengthening their capacity to mobilize domestic resources through taxation, as well as of attracting investors and improving international cooperation, is widely recognized as a central factor in the pursuit of poverty eradication and sustainable development. The prevention or elimination of international double taxation is, in that regard, an important aspect of countries’ investment climate and is essential for investment flows between countries, the exchange of goods and services, the movement of capital and persons and the transfer of technology. Despite the importance of double tax treaties, many developing countries lack the necessary knowledge and experience to negotiate and administer them successfully.

Through this project, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs aimed to increase the understanding of double tax treaties by tax officials in beneficiary countries, strengthen their ability to negotiate and apply those treaties effectively and strengthen their capacity to disseminate and institutionalize such expertise within their administrations. Approximately 250 double tax treaties and protocols were negotiated or renegotiated by countries that benefited from capacity development activities under the project. More than 50 of those treaties contain provisions based on the United Nations Model Double Taxation Convention between Developed and Developing Countries, in which emphasis is placed on the preservation of taxing rights in the country where the economic activity or investment is undertaken, rather than in the country where the investor is based, being therefore more beneficial to developing countries. The project was successful in implementing training activities at the global, regional and national levels, reaching more than 360 participants from 66 developing countries, and in developing a range of tools to complement in-person capacity development, such as online courses and publications.