One of the key objectives of the CIAT organization is to support our member tax administrations in their own process for development and improvement. We have done this through various initiatives including a wide training program for officers and officials; the publication of manuals, statistics and research papers; and, the creation of spaces for discussion that are an effective platform for the exchange experiences, good practices and lessons learned in large forums, like our general assemblies and technical conferences, or in more focused groups like our different networks (studies, international taxation, collections, risk management and electronic invoices or bilateral activities for specific tax administrations).

There is also the execution of technical assistance projects. CIAT has an extensive experience in this area. In the past 30 years or so, we have conducted a couple of hundred projects, with at least one in each of our Latin American and Caribbean countries. Projects have ranged from drafting tax policy reforms to the design of a human resource career, from the improvement of processes to the design and implementation of information systems. The most complex technical assistance projects have extended for periods of three years or more.

In recent years, with support from organizations like the United Nations, the OECD and the European Commission, development agencies like the German GIZ and the Swiss SECO, and initiatives like EUROsociAL, CIAT has offered a significant number of short-term technical assistance projects to some of our member countries, particularly in Central America and the Caribbean, at no cost for the receiving tax administrations. Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago have all been beneficiaries of these initiatives.

That experience, we believe, has given CIAT a recognized name in the worldwide tax administration arena.

Additionally, there are other quite important IT-based solutions implemented in some of our Latin American tax administrations. Some of these important initiatives are the implementation of electronic invoice, integrated current account, electronic fiscal domicile, digitalization of processes including decisions of appeals by administrative judges, 100 percent electronic filing of tax returns and others.

These two above aspects, and chance meetings in a couple of international congresses and seminars put us on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation radar. We can proudly announce that our African Member Countries, currently Angola, Kenya, Nigeria and Morocco, could benefit from a CIAT project funded via a grant from this foundation.

The purpose of the project is to open a door for south-to-south cooperation that would facilitate a fast learning process of what have been successful experiences in tax administration in other emerging economies. Hopefully, a leap-frogging process could be put in place. A very effective tax administration is key for the mobilization of local resources.

For the next year and half, we will be working with some our colleagues in Africa. We are sure that it will be a challenging but rewarding adventure, and for that we want to thank the foundation for its support and confidence.

Greetings, good luck and happy new year.

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