On April 18th, the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Mechanism (BRITACOM) successfully held an event themed “Strengthening Communication for Better Trust and Cooperation”. At the invitation of the BRITACOM Secretariat, embassy officials from the BRI participating countries including Kazakhstan, Algeria, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Ethiopia, D.R. Congo, Cameroon, Peru, and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives from international organizations such as the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (IBFD), paid a visit to the Secretariat and participated in a round-table meeting on the vision for tax administration cooperation along developing economies.

 

 

While marking the 5th anniversary of the BRITACOM, this event aimed to review the evolutionary development of the BRITACOM and embrace a better development vision to promote the building of a pragmatic and efficient tax cooperation mechanism, which would in turn contribute to the establishment of a growth-friendly tax environment.

 

During the visit, the Director of the BRITACOM Secretariat Office introduced the history of the BRITACOM, milestone events, achievements, and future development goals through an array of photos and images displayed in the Secretariat hall. This helped enhance the guests’ understanding of the important role the BRITACOM has been playing in deepening tax administration cooperation and improving tax governance capabilities in general.

 

 

At the round-table meeting, Mr. Smail HALFAOUI, Counsellor in charge of Cooperation, Embassy of Algeria to China, Ms. Raushan Izbassarova, First Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to China, Mr. Huang Suhua, Deputy Director-general of the International Taxation Department of the State Taxation Administration (STA) of China, delivered keynote presentations as guest representatives. They shared their experiences in participating in the construction of the BRITACOM, expressing their vision for continuing to play a bridging role and promoting cooperation under the framework of the BRITACOM to build a growth-friendly tax environment. Following the keynote remarks, the guests engaged in a discussion to exchange views on issues of common concern and deliberate on development initiatives of the BRITACOM.

 

 

In addition, the guests were escorted to a well-known company for a visit in Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone where the Secretariat is located. The guests gained some firsthand understanding of the company’s great achievements and the efforts made by the STA of China to improve cross-border tax services and better serve its high-level opening-up program.

 

Commending this event, Mr. Francisco Garcia, First Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Peru to China, commented, “The BRITACOM is an important platform for communication and cooperation in the tax field among BRI countries. We look forward to the 5th Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Forum (BRITACOF), to be held in Hong Kong, China in September.” All the guests expressed their appreciation for the communication bridge built by the BRITACOM Secretariat, saying that the visit to both the Secretariat and the well-known company enabled them to have some direct feel about the development achievements of the BRITACOM, as well as the efforts of the STA of China to establish a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment. They believed that the BRITACOM would certainly play an indispensable role in future international tax cooperation.[Photo by Su Yu]