International Monetary Fund

Revenue Mobilization and Development

 

IMF Conference

Revenue Mobilization and Development

Washington DC, April 17-19, 2011


A core challenge for many developing countries is to improve their domestic revenue mobilization—to raise more, in ways that are more efficient, fairer and better promote good governance.

The aim of this conference, marking the launch of two trust funds to support the Fund's technical assistance in this area, was to bring together leading policy makers and academics, business and civil society to improve decisions and advice by learning from successes and failures of the past, and from the most recent academic advances. In doing so, and drawing lessons from the IMF conference in Nairobi on March 21-22, hosted by the Kenya Government, it also aimed to inform the response to the G20's recent request in this area.

The main sessions comprised brief presentations by leading experts and country officials, followed by discussants' remarks and open discussion.

Kindly note that attendance to this event is by invitation only.


Disclaimer

The website contains papers and web links to papers that will be presented at the Revenue Mobilization and Development Conference. The views expressed in these papers are those of the authors only, and the presence of them, or of links to them, on the IMF website does not imply that the IMF, its Executive Board, or its management endorses or shares the views expressed in the papers.

Revenue Mobilization and Development
Sunday, April 17
HQ1 Gallery
8:15-9:30 Registration
Session 1
Watch the Webcast webcast
9:30-9:45 Opening Address: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
9:45-10:00 Challenges and opportunities—An overview:
Carlo Cottarelli, Director, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF
10:00-10:15 Lessons from the Nairobi conference: Allen Kagina, Commissioner General, Uganda Revenue Authority, Uganda
10:15-10:45 Break
Session 2
Watch the Webcast webcast
10:45-11:30 State building, equity and the political economy of tax reform in developing countries—Policymakers’ perspective

Chair: Nicolás Eyzaguirre, Director, Western Hemisphere Department, International Monetary Fund

Panelists:
Emilia Pires, Minister of Finance, Timor Leste
William Chong Wong, Minister of Finance, Honduras
Brian Atwood, Chair, Development Assistance Committee
Clotilde Nizigama, Minister of Finance, Burundi
Syda Bbumba, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda
11:30-12:15 State building, equity and the political economy of tax reform in developing countries—Analytical issues

Chair: Martin Ravaillon, Director, Development Research Group, World Bank

Speakers:
Alberto Barreix, Senior Economist, Inter-American Development Bank
Wilson Prichard, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
12:15-1:45 Lunch—by invitation, HQ1 Blue level Room 702
Speaker: Christian Masset, General Director, General Directorate for Globalization, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, France
Session 3
Watch the Webcast webcast (Part 1 | Part 2)
1:45-3:00 An overview of lessons, issues, and opportunities
Chair: Pierre Pestieau, University of Liège

Speaker: Michael Keen, Senior Advisor, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF

Discussants:
Mihir Desai, Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance, Harvard Business School
Henry Rotich, Deputy Director, Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Kenya
Luc Lampière, Executive Director, Oxfam France
3:00-3:30 Break
3:30-5:00 Reforming revenue administration
Chair: Agus Martowardojo, Minister of Finance, Indonesia
Speakers:
Juan Toro, Chief, Revenue Administration Division, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF
Ifueko Omoigui Okauru, Member of the Council, African Tax Administration Forum
Marcio Verdi, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Center of Tax Administrations
Marek Welenczyk, Executive Secretary, Intra-European Organisation of Tax Administrations
Monday, April 18
HQ1 Meeting Halls A and B
8:00-9:30 Registration and coffee
Session 4
9:00-10:30 Reforming tax policy and administration in practice—country experiences

Chair: Victoria Perry, Chief, Tax Policy Division, Financial Affairs Department, IMF

Speakers:
Harry Kitillya, Commissioner General, Tanzania Revenue Authority, Tanzania
Alfred Bagueka Assobo, Director General, General Directorate of Taxation, Ministry of Finance, Cameroon
Nasiruddin Ahmed, Chairman, National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh
Rusudan Kemularia, Deputy Minister of Finance, Georgia
Van Phung Nguyen, Deputy Director, Tax Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, Vietnam
10:30-11:00 Break
Session 5
11:00-12:30 Business taxation

Chair: Jeffrey Owens, Director, OECD Tax Policy and Administration Centre

Speakers:
Corporate tax competition and tax coordination
Mario Mansour, Senior Economist, Tax Policy Division, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF

International tax issues
Alan Carter, Coordinator, International Tax Dialogue

Taxing small business
Rajul Awasthi, Senior Development Specialist, Investment Climate Advisory, International Finance Corporation

Discussants:
Allen Kagina, Commissioner General, Uganda Revenue Authority, Uganda
Eugene Ubalijoro, Private Investors for Africa
12:30-1:45 Lunch
Session 6
1:45-2:45 Customs and indirect tax reform

Chair: Sergio Mujica, Deputy Secretary General, World Customs Organization

Speaker: Anne-Marie Geourjon, Maître de Conférence, CERDI, Université d’Auvergne

Discussants:
Antoine N'Gakosso, Director General, General Directorate of Taxation, Ministry of Finance, Republic of Congo
Krishna Hari Baskota, Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Nepal
2:45-3:45 Taxing natural resources

Chair: Philip Daniel, Deputy Division Chief, Tax Policy Division, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF

Speaker: Carole Nakhle, Energy Economist, Surrey Energy Economics Centre, University of Surrey
Discussants:
Seth Terkper, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Finance, Ghana
Batjargal Bazarsuren, Fiscal Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, Mongolia
3:45-4:15 Break
4:15-5:15 Taxation and decentralization

Chair: Roberto Ugarte, Head, Tax Office, Bolivia

Speaker: Gérard Chambas, Research Director, CERDI, Université d’Auvergne

Discussants:
Dieudonné Locadi Moga, Director General, Directorate General of Taxation, Ministry of Finance, Democratic Republic of Congo
Ricardo Varsano, Tax Policy Consultant
5:15-6:00 Closing Panel

Chair: Antoinette Sayeh, Director, African Department, IMF

Panelists:
Soumaïla Cissé, President, West African Monetary Economic and Monetary Union Commission
Juan Ricardo Ortega, Director, National Tax and Customs Administration, Colombia
Maria Recente, Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Philippines; and Advisor to the World Bank Executive Director representing the Philippines
6:00-6:10 Close: Michael Keen, Senior Advisor, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF
Tuesday, April 19
HQ1 Meeting Halls A and B
8:30-9:30 Registration and coffee
Special Session I
  The role of technical assistance

Chair: Nemat Shafik, Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
8:30-9:30 Advisors’ perspective

Speakers:
David Kloeden and Philip Daniel, Deputy Division Chief, Revenue Administration Division, and Deputy Division Chief, Tax Policy Division, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF
Ben Dickinson, Secretariat, OECD
Raul Junquera-Varela, Senior Public Finance Specialist, World Bank
Michael Lennard, Chief, International Tax Cooperation Section, United Nations
David Dod, United States Agency for International Development
9:30-10:30 Donor, industry and civil society perspective

Speakers:
David McNair, Senior Economic Justice Advisor, Christian Aid
Janine Juggins, Global Head of Tax, Rio Tinto
David Nguyen-Thanh, Team Leader, Sector Program Public Finances and Resource Governance, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), GmbH
10:30-11:00 Break
11:00-11:45 Country response

Speakers:
Elfrieda Stewart Tamba, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Finance, Liberia
Viralee Lattibeaudiere, Head, Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, Jamaica
Special Session II
 The report for the G20—Open Discussion
Working paper on Orientations for French cooperation on tax matters (in French and English)
12:00-2:00Working Lunch
Alan Carter, Coordinator, International Tax Dialogue