A special forum for the Asian region on exchanging information between countries through the tax system and establishing a transparent system has begun at Villa Nautilus Resort. This forum, in which 17 countries from the Asian region are participating, is a regional meeting held under the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). While the 8th meeting of the Asian region is being held in the Maldives in collaboration with MIRA, this meeting is co-chaired by the Commissioner General of Taxation, Hassan Zareer.
The official opening ceremony of this meeting was honored by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Moosa Zameer. At this meeting, the Minister inaugurated the third edition of the Tax Transparency in Asia Report. Speaking to PSM News regarding holding this meeting in the Maldives, Commissioner General of Taxation Hassan Zareer said that the Maldives’ tax system is one that has achieved many advancements in a short period compared to other countries. As such, Zareer said that getting the opportunity to co-chair this meeting is an important opportunity that has been received.
Commissioner General of Taxation Zareer said that by joining such initiatives, instead of making tax information agreements with individual countries, information can be exchanged with countries included in these initiatives. “We have amended our laws, and now the system has been brought to a level where information can be exchanged. In addition, because we are in a leading role in the region, we get the opportunity to interact with initiatives from other regions as well. Because of this, we believe this is a very big advancement,” said Commissioner General Hassan Zareer.
Regarding this meeting, the second co-chair of the Asia Initiative and head of Armenia’s tax authority, Eduard Hakobyan, told the media that the exchange of information between countries through the tax system is increasing. He also said that countries are cooperating to establish a transparent system. Through this meeting, sessions related to establishing a transparent tax system will be conducted. In addition, it has been decided to exchange ideas among countries on including cryptocurrency in the tax system.
The Asia Initiative is an annual meeting attended by tax authorities of Asian countries. This is the first time this meeting is being held in the Maldives. In addition to 17 countries, members of the Asian Development Bank, Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators, and Study Group on Asian-Pacific Tax Administration and Research (SGATAR) are also participating in this meeting.
