The Multilateral Seminar of the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Mechanism (BRITACʘM) was held in Beijing, China on 6-8 November, 2019.

Tax officials from 8 countries and regions, including Ms. Tuma Jabbi, Vice-Chair of the BRITACʘM and Chairperson of National Revenue Authority, Republic of Sierra Leone, as well as some Members or their representatives from the Advisory Board, including Mr. Joseph Stead from OECD and Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Owens from Vienna University, participated in the seminar. Mr. WANG Jun, Chair of the BRITACʘM and Commissioner of the State Taxation Administration of the People’s Republic of China (STA) and Mr. WANG Daoshu, the new Secretary of the BRITACʘM Secretariat and Chief Auditor of the STA, attended the seminar.

Mr. WANG Jun delivered a speech and pointed out that spanning six months from balmy spring to golden autumn, the BRITACʘM has come a long way with a growing partnership and fruitful outcomes. Committed to mutual respect, equal-dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation, the BRITACʘM has started a new journey of high-quality Belt and Road taxation cooperation.

In the current phase, the top priority of the BRITACʘM is the preparation of the Second Conference of the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Forum (BRITACOF) to be held in Kazakhstan in May, 2020. The participants agreed to have digitalization of tax administration as the main theme. Aiming to make the Second Conference of the BRITACOF a pragmatic and efficient communication platform, it is commonly agreed that advanced models and strategies should be designed for countries and regions with different contexts and demands. In this respect, all participants shared wisdom and insights to further optimize the design of the Second Conference of the BRITACOF. Some also showed strong willingness to recommend experts in tax administration digitalization to deeply engage in relevant events and provide suggestions for future course of action.

Besides, focusing on the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Capacity Enhancement Group (BRITACEG) and the implementation of the Wuzhen Action Plan (2019-2021), all participants actively exchanged ideas with respect to the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Academy (BRITA) working plan and the building of the BRITACEG experts team and explored efficient ways of communication of the Task Forces, laying a solid foundation for the continued improvement of the BRITACʘM.

Based on the consensus reached, the participants were unanimously committed to make joint efforts to broaden, deepen and upgrade the BRITACʘM, so as to build a growth-friendly tax environment for the promotion of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.