Policy seminar: Tax and development - setting the agenda

Tax and development - setting the agenda


The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and UNU-WIDER invite you to attend a seminar on the crucial issue of taxation in development efforts. While progress has been made in many areas, significant challenges remain and their resolution requires, among other things, sufficient revenues. Tax increases, when necessary, must be made in an efficient and equitable manner.   

This half-day policy seminar will cover what we currently know while considering what we should know in the future to implement good tax policies in developing countries. It will place tax revenues in context with other funding sources and links tax revenues with private sector development. Key issues in data access and reliability will be reviewed, especially in relation to illicit financial flows. The seminar will finish with examining linkages between managing revenue flows and governance, with a particular reference to extractive industries. 

Programme

09:00-09:30 Registration
09:30-09:40 Opening words
Satu Santala, Director General, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
09:40-10:00 Highlights of MFA's tax research collaboration
Hanna Rinkineva, Ambassador, Tax and Development, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland   Presentation
10:00-10:20 The policy agenda
Finn Tarp, Director, UNU-WIDER   Presentation
10:20-10:40 The data agenda
Jukka Pirttilä, Non-Resident Research Fellow, UNU-WIDER   Presentation
10:40-11:00 The governance agenda
Tony Addison, Chief Economist and Deputy Director, UNU-WIDER   Presentation
11:00-11:40 Questions and answers
11:40-11:45 Concluding remarks
Finn Tarp, Director, UNU-WIDER