Excellencies,Distinguished Delegates,Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my honour and privilege to welcome you to this side event organized by UN-DESA, in cooperation with the IMF, OECD and the World Bank Group.
The main purpose of this event is to introduce to UN delegations the Platform for Collaboration on Tax, a joint initiative of the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group, which was launched earlier this year to intensify the cooperation on tax issues among these four organizations.
Domestic resource mobilization, including through modernized tax systems, is central to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.
A key role is to be played by development-oriented tax policies, efficient tax administrations, as well as the broadening of the tax base and the effective combating of tax evasion and capital flight.
In recent years, international and regional organizations dealing with tax matters have made substantial progress in fostering international tax cooperation and providing guidance on both policy and administration aspects.
Nevertheless, strengthened and better coordinated efforts are needed to effectively implement this guidance in developing countries, taking into account their different needs and capacities, with a view to supporting national plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
In this respect, the Platform for Collaboration on Tax has an important role to play, including by better coordinating tax capacity-building support to developing countries, delivering joint outputs and strengthening the interactions between standard setting, capacity building and technical assistance.
The Platform was welcomed by G20 Finance Ministers at their February meeting in Shanghai, who also requested the four participating organizations to produce a joint report for their July meeting in Chengdu, with recommendations on mechanisms to help ensure effective implementation and funding of technical assistance programmes.
In response to this request, the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group prepared a joint report entitled “Enhancing the Effectiveness of External Support in Building Tax Capacity in Developing Countries”.
This report seeks to identify core elements of successful tax capacity-building programmes and includes a series of recommendations and enabling actions that help to produce such successes. To this end, it draws upon the individual experiences of the four organizations in delivering technical cooperation projects, as well as their interactions with development partners and country governments.
The establishment of the Platform and its report were acknowledged by G20 Leaders in their Communiqué adopted at the Summit held in Hangzhou, China, on 4-5 September 2016. Moreover, the Platform was called upon to send a progress update to the G20 by mid-2017, with a view to reporting on the implementation of the recommendations included in their report.
Today, a panel of distinguished speakers, who represent all the Platform partners, will be briefing you on this joint initiative, including its objectives, the guiding principles for cooperation and the main activities to be implemented, as well as on the report submitted to the G20 on mechanisms for effective capacity building in support of tax reforms.
In addition, distinguished representatives from regional tax organizations will present their perspectives on strengthening cooperation and improving coordination in carrying out capacity development activities within their respective regions.
Finally, the floor will be open to all attending delegates and other participants, to engage in an interactive dialogue on how to make the work of the Platform as relevant and effective as possible in supporting tax capacity-building efforts of developing countries.
Let me know introduce the panellists.
On behalf of the Platform, we have:
Mr. Alexander Trepelkov, Director, Financing for Development Office, UN-DESA;Ms. Victoria Perry, Assistant Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF;Ms. Grace Perez-Navarro, Deputy Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD; andMr. Marijn Verhoeven, Lead Economist and Cluster Lead on Tax, Global Tax Team, Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, World Bank Group.
From regional organizations, we have:
Mr. Logan Wort, Executive Secretary, African Tax Administration Forum; andMr. Socorro Velazquez, Director, Planning and Institutional Development, Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations.
I now give the floor to Mr. Trepelkov, who is the first speaker on behalf of the Platform.
Thank you.
It is my honour and privilege to welcome you to this side event organized by UN-DESA, in cooperation with the IMF, OECD and the World Bank Group.
The main purpose of this event is to introduce to UN delegations the Platform for Collaboration on Tax, a joint initiative of the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group, which was launched earlier this year to intensify the cooperation on tax issues among these four organizations.
Domestic resource mobilization, including through modernized tax systems, is central to support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.
A key role is to be played by development-oriented tax policies, efficient tax administrations, as well as the broadening of the tax base and the effective combating of tax evasion and capital flight.
In recent years, international and regional organizations dealing with tax matters have made substantial progress in fostering international tax cooperation and providing guidance on both policy and administration aspects.
Nevertheless, strengthened and better coordinated efforts are needed to effectively implement this guidance in developing countries, taking into account their different needs and capacities, with a view to supporting national plans to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
In this respect, the Platform for Collaboration on Tax has an important role to play, including by better coordinating tax capacity-building support to developing countries, delivering joint outputs and strengthening the interactions between standard setting, capacity building and technical assistance.
The Platform was welcomed by G20 Finance Ministers at their February meeting in Shanghai, who also requested the four participating organizations to produce a joint report for their July meeting in Chengdu, with recommendations on mechanisms to help ensure effective implementation and funding of technical assistance programmes.
In response to this request, the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group prepared a joint report entitled “Enhancing the Effectiveness of External Support in Building Tax Capacity in Developing Countries”.
This report seeks to identify core elements of successful tax capacity-building programmes and includes a series of recommendations and enabling actions that help to produce such successes. To this end, it draws upon the individual experiences of the four organizations in delivering technical cooperation projects, as well as their interactions with development partners and country governments.
The establishment of the Platform and its report were acknowledged by G20 Leaders in their Communiqué adopted at the Summit held in Hangzhou, China, on 4-5 September 2016. Moreover, the Platform was called upon to send a progress update to the G20 by mid-2017, with a view to reporting on the implementation of the recommendations included in their report.
Today, a panel of distinguished speakers, who represent all the Platform partners, will be briefing you on this joint initiative, including its objectives, the guiding principles for cooperation and the main activities to be implemented, as well as on the report submitted to the G20 on mechanisms for effective capacity building in support of tax reforms.
In addition, distinguished representatives from regional tax organizations will present their perspectives on strengthening cooperation and improving coordination in carrying out capacity development activities within their respective regions.
Finally, the floor will be open to all attending delegates and other participants, to engage in an interactive dialogue on how to make the work of the Platform as relevant and effective as possible in supporting tax capacity-building efforts of developing countries.
Let me know introduce the panellists.
On behalf of the Platform, we have:
Mr. Alexander Trepelkov, Director, Financing for Development Office, UN-DESA;Ms. Victoria Perry, Assistant Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF;Ms. Grace Perez-Navarro, Deputy Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD; andMr. Marijn Verhoeven, Lead Economist and Cluster Lead on Tax, Global Tax Team, Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, World Bank Group.
From regional organizations, we have:
Mr. Logan Wort, Executive Secretary, African Tax Administration Forum; andMr. Socorro Velazquez, Director, Planning and Institutional Development, Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations.
I now give the floor to Mr. Trepelkov, who is the first speaker on behalf of the Platform.
Thank you.
File date:
Friday, October 21, 2016