OECD holds first Asia-Pacific Technical Meeting on BEPS in Indonesia
3/11/2015 – On 11-12 November 2015, the first Asia-Pacific Technical Meeting on BEPS discussed the outcomes of the BEPS Project, and the challenges countries face in the region in implementing BEPS, and explored how countries in the region can engage in the implementation, on-going development and monitoring of the measures adopted, on an equal footing.
This meeting was hosted in Yogyakarta by the Directorate General of Taxes, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia in co-operation with the OECD Korea Policy Centre (Tax Programme). This event focused on the exchange of experience among technical tax policy and administration experts in the region and built on a previous regional meeting on BEPS which took place on 12-13 February 2015 in Seoul, Korea.
75 participants attended the meeting representing 17 economies in addition to officials from the OECD, AIPEG, ATAIC, JICA, the OECD Korea Policy Centre, and SGATAR. These technical experts provided feedback on the delivery of the BEPS Package, shared areas of priority for their countries, plans for engagement and activity, and described the challenges ahead. They also provided their perspectives on engaging in the Implementation phase of the project including the development of an inclusive framework to include interested countries on an equal footing in the implementation, further development and monitoring of the measures adopted in the context of the BEPS Project.
The Vice Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Mardiasmo welcomed the participants and in his opening remarks emphasised the importance of working together to develop solutions to the global tax issues, and recognised that the implementation of BEPS measures will be the next big challenge for countries in the region. He pledged Indonesia’s continued support for the BEPS Project together with other G20 countries, and encouraged both developed and developing countries to continue to work together to deal with common challenges. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. John Hutagaol of the Indonesian Directorate General of Taxes and Mr. Kyounghwan Moon of the Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
Additional discussions focused on the significance of capacity building and the development of toolkits targeting developing countries’ specific needs, as well as existing and possible new initiatives aimed at building a capacity building framework for the countries in the Region.
