ATI regional workshop underway in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, May 8:  A regional technical workshop of Addis Tax Initiatives (ATI) is underway in Nepal. The event is attended by 60 people, including tax administrators, experts, and representatives from the development partners from 16 nations who are ATI members. 

 The event is organized by the Inland Revenue Department and is supported by the Council of Economic Policy and the German Institute for Development and Sustainability.  

The regional workshop held in the Philippines last year decided to host the event in Kathmandu this time. Speaking at the inaugural session, Revenue Secretary Dr Ram Prasad Ghimire expressed his hope that the event would be fruitful in exploring ways to deal with financial challenges faced by the ATI nations. 

 He hoped the event would provide a roadmap for making the tax administration transparent, accountable, and effective, achieving inclusive and sustainable development goals through fiscal mobilization and promoting collaboration among the ATI nations. 

 As he said, the workshop will play a role in building a collective approach regarding the upcoming revenue mobilization and tax exemption policies by reviewing the existing ones. 

According to the organization, the Addis Tax Initiative (ATI) is dedicated to advancing equitable and efficient domestic revenue mobilization (DRM), enhancing policy coherence, and strengthening the social contract through collaborative partnerships and knowledge exchange. Originating from the Third International Conference on Financing for Development held in Addis Ababa in July 2015, ATI has played a pivotal role in actualizing the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and remains firmly integrated into the Financing for Development discourse, it is said. 

 On behalf of the ADDIS Board of Directors, Alistair Lobo, insisted on the need to implement a tax system capable of supporting the member nations in accomplishing sustainable development goals. 

He underlined the need to increase the transparency of tax expenditures, reduce the tax burden on payers, and ease the cost-benefit evaluation. "The workshop will contribute to developing a fair and transparent tax system, and regional mechanism and achieving the SDGs."

UNDP Resident Representative for Nepal, Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labé, commended the efforts of ATI nations towards the advancement of SDGs, expecting that the workshop would be effective for the financial mobilization. 

As said by Department Director General, Shiba Lal Tiwari said the event would be productive for enhancing Nepal's tax administration and sharing the experiences of Nepal's tax administration with the member nations. 

Currently, 32 partner countries, 20 development partners, and 22 supporting organizations are members of the Addis Tax Initiative (ATI). Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mauritania, Mongolia, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia are its partner countries. 

Its development partners include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, South Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.  (RSS)