Welcome to the Middle East/North Africa Program Page
In summer of 2003, following discussions with several of the international financial
institutions, ITIC launched a triangle project to bring together leading public
finance and legal experts in the petroleum sector along with public sector officials
from the Iraqi Government and Industry representatives to develop tax, legal, and
regulatory options for the redevelopment of the Iraqi Petroleum Sector. ITIC commissioned
a study that was later published as “Petroleum and Iraq’s Future: Fiscal Options
and Challenges.” The contributors for this book were Oxford Economics, the Center
for Global Energy Studies (CGES), and Philip Daniels.
ITIC assembled experts from Iraqi Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Oil, Ministry
of Planning, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and International Oil
Companies in Beirut, Lebanon, in January 2005. A series of follow-up workshops and
meetings were held including a second international workshop in Amman, Jordan in
June 2007. In spring 2008, ITIC commissioned a second Iraq study with Dr. Carole
Nakhle of Surrey Energy Economics Centre, University of Surrey. This study, “Iraq’s
Oil Future: Finding the Right Framework” was published in November 2008 and launched
at a seminar in London hosted by the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce.
In March 2006, ITIC launched its inaugural workshop with the General People’s Planning
Commission in Libya. This Tripoli workshop, jointly organized with the IMF, brought
together tax, finance, banking, and National Oil Corporation experts with IMF Fiscal
Affairs Department experts and industry tax, finance, and legal executives to discuss
reforms of Libya’s tax and petroleum laws. ITIC continues to engage with the National
Oil Corporation and the Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance following the
workshop. ITIC’s Libya Tax Dialogue helped to contribute to the enactment of General
People’s Council decree No. 394 on the filing of tax declarations and the issuance
of tax receipts for foreign tax credit purposes (May 2007) and NOC Management Resolution
No. 93 that further clarified tax declarations.
ITIC continues to facilitate such practical and hands-on dialogue. Discussions are
currently underway with the National Oil Company to organize a 2009 workshop in
Tripoli to discuss the petroleum law reforms those are being considered.
ITIC is in the early stage of discussions with the Windsor Energy Forum to provide
a tax component to the Middle East Financial Forum. Similar discussions are underway
with the OECD to cooperate on programs with their Middle East and North Africa Initiatives
(MINA).
The results of our study programs, 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, manages the technical content of the Middle East/North
Africa program.