Forum held in Jakarta to boost Belt and Road tax administration cooperation

The 7th Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Forum (BRITACOF) kicked off on Tuesday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Themed "Smart Taxation, Shared Prosperity", this forum brought together over 300 participants, including heads of tax administrations from nearly 40 countries and regions, representatives from eight international organizations, and delegates from Chinese and foreign multinational enterprises.

During the three-day event hosted by the Directorate General of Taxes of Indonesia, participants will discuss topics such as tax administration digitalization, taxpayer service facilitation, and coordinated capacity building. A tax dialogue among businesses will also be held to discuss taxpayer service improvements.

The event will witness the release of the Tax Administration Product Portfolio (TAPP) 2.0, the Taxpayer Service Product Portfolio (TSPP) 2.0, and the 2026 Compilation of the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration and Taxpayer Service Product Portfolio. It will also update the courses of the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Capacity Enhancement Group and publish the Belt and Road Initiative Tax Administration Cooperation Mechanism (BRITACOM) Annual Report (2026).

These deliverables, by pooling advanced practices and typical cases, will promote alignment of tax administration rules and mutual recognition of standards of Belt and Road partner countries, thus providing comprehensive toolkits and practical models for the participants to enhance their tax governance capacity and optimize tax-related business environment.

The BRITACOM was initiated and established by China in April 2019. It currently has 38 members and 30 observers, making it a significant multilateral tax cooperation platform under the Belt and Road Initiative. 

Since the inception of the BRITACOM, a series of consensuses has been reached, and steady progress has been made in boosting tax certainty, advancing digital transformation of tax administration, improving tax-related business environment and strengthening tax administration capacity building.

The previous six editions of the BRITACOF were held in China, Kazakhstan (online), Algeria, Georgia, China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Nepal, respectively. (Edited by Su Dan with Xinhua Silk Road, silviasu07@163.com)