News from the Executive Director, Dr. Esther A. P. Koisin

With the great pomp and pageantry that is done so well in Malaysia, the 36^th Technical Conference drew to a close on the 20^th November, 2015 at the historic port city of Melaka. In spite of being weighed down by the five days of intense discussions on very demanding topics, the delegates had nothing but praise for the host- the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia. “We expected a good Conference”, commented one delegate, “but what we got was the best".  (Read the final communique) 

The Conference was officially opened by Malaysia Minister of Finance II Dato’ Haji Johari Abdul Ghani and

(Photo courtesy of The Commonwealth website) 

The Commonwealth Ministers of Finance meeting ended in the Peruvian capital of Lima with a renewed call for stronger Commonwealth presence in the contemporary international tax discourses. Coming on the heels of the UN meeting

In the run up to the 2015 Commonwealth Heads of Government and States (CHOGM), the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London organized round table discussions on some of the reform agenda for the “Commonwealth of the future”. The discussions follow serious indictment of The Commonwealth as “a sick and dysfunctional organization” by the Chair of CHOGM President Joseph Muscat of Malta (the host of the 2015 Summit) in a lecture delivered at the London School of Economics in July 2014.

The Round Table discussion focussed on the reform agenda

Participants in the 2015 CATA UK programs reported for their residential session in Lincoln Inn on 27^th July. The programs which are co-hosted by CATA and HMRC will run for the next six weeks during which participants will be expected to finalise and present their research projects.

At a welcoming dinner hosted for the delegates at Lawress Hall, the Deputy Director of HMRC Sue Walton urged participants

The Directors of the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia have approved plans to have the Academy accredited to a university in order to offer degree courses. The announcement was made by the Director of the Academy Mr Adzhar Sulaiman while addressing participants at the closing ceremony of the 19th edition of the Taxation of International Transactions (TOIT) Course in Selangor, Malaysia. Details of the accreditation process remain to be worked out, including the time frame and the type of degree courses that will be offered.

A meeting of representatives of the Commonwealth Associated organizations will take place on 14^th May, 2015 in London. The meeting convened by the Commonwealth Secretary General Mr  Kamalesh Sharma will be a follow up to various consultative engagements that the Commonwealth Secretariat has been having with these Organizations with a view to discussing strategic areas of collaboration and partnership.

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth Mr Kamalesh Sharma has invited CATA’s Executive Director to be part of the Commonwealth delegation to the 3^rd UN International Conference on Financing for Development scheduled to take place from the 13^th to 16^th July in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Conference that will bring together heads of States and Governments including several international organizations is set to discuss how the UN Millennium Development Goals would be financed in the post 2015 period.

Given the critical role that domestic resource mobilization is expected to play in financing the development agenda of most countries, CATA