ITIC started its work in the region through a mission in 1996 to Hanoi, Vietnam. It brought tax managers of leading multinationals and tax policy experts to the country to meet with government officials there as Vietnam entered a new phase of liberalization and openness to foreign investment. Today, ITIC is the co-founder, along with the Public Finance Institute of the Philippines, of the Asia Tax Forum that annually brings together leading tax policy officials from the public sector, academic experts, and industry representatives.

This activity was followed by ITIC’s participation in a project in 2001 with the State Administration of Taxation in the People’s Republic of China. As the country entered the World Trade Organization, its tax system needed to be made consistent with the taxation related obligations of the WTO agreements. SAT entered into a dialogue process with leading foreign investors to identify their concerns, and test these against the WTO requirements. In its initial brief after the meeting, SAT decided to continue with the dialogue process, and ITIC remains involved.

ITIC’s major program in the region is the Asia Tax Forum on indirect taxation issues. Since its first meeting, organized jointly with the National University of Singapore in 2005, this gathering has brought together tax administration and policy officials from member governments, leading multinationals and internationally known tax experts at a neutral, private setting to discuss problems of indirect taxation in the region. ATF has commissioned high quality studies on excise taxation, earmarked taxes, use of tax expenditures analysis for indirect taxation policy, and VAT on financial supplies for countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The combination of ITIC’s research “track record” and its strong relationship with its partner, the Public Finance Institute of the Philippines (PFIP) and with its member governments has established the Forum as the premier event on tax policy throughout the region.

ATF meets annually in a host Asia Pacific country, and the Ministry of Finance/ tax administration of the country hosts the conference, usually along with a local partner institution. Apart from Singapore, ATF meetings have been held at Manila, Bangkok, Hanoi, and New Delhi; the Australian Taxation office will host the 2009 meeting in Sydney, while Beijing and Phnom Penh are possible venues for the following years.

The results of our studies program, notes of various meetings and important tax policy related documents are available in our program libraries, available to sponsors only.

For more information on becoming an ITIC sponsor, please contact ITIC Washington Office.

Hafiz Choudhury, Senior Advisor to ITIC, manages technical programs for the region on behalf of ITIC

• Asia Tax Forum Library