Cyprus and the Caribbean island-state of Barbados signed a double tax avoidance and prevention of tax evasion treaty on Wednesday, the finance ministry said.

"The agreed text will contribute to the development of commercial and financial ties between Cyprus and Barbados, as well as other countries," the finance ministry said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

Evripides Evriviades, High Commissioner to the UK, and his Barbadian peer Guy Hewitt signed the agreement, which is based on the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development model convention for the avoidance of double taxation on income and capital, the ministry said.

It added that agreements of this type are of "paramount importance" for attracting foreign investment and promoting Cyprus as an international business centre.

Barbados currently has 37 double taxation agreements in force, a further six awaiting ratification including with Cyprus, and three that have been initialed and are awaiting signature.

Adapted from Business Mail

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