Tuesday, 17 June 2014
PM: The tax code is the pledge of our country’s enhanced competitiveness
Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan attended an international conference on the development of a unified tax code for the Republic of Armenia. The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Finance and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Tax Reform Program.
Welcoming the guests, the Prime Minister highlighted the unified tax code in terms of our country’s long-term and sustainable development.
“Some three weeks ago the National Assembly approved the program of the new government, which seeks to continuously improve our country’s business and investment climate, including the tax environment.
In this regard, the development and enforcement of the tax code in line with the best international practices will be a strong impetus for further improvement of Armenia’s business environment and increased investment attractiveness.
On the other hand, we hopeful that the tax code will help enhance Armenia’s image among its foreign partners as a reliable partner with stable and developed tax system. In addition, the tax code will be designed based on the country’s economic priorities, opportunities and the existing bottlenecks, as well as on the regional priorities.
The tax code should promote as much as possible export-oriented, import-substituting, knowledge-based and non-raw material industries.
On the other hand, the new tax code should allow for effective fight against the black economy. We look forward to having a stronger tax base, increased revenue, especially through more accurate and stricter taxation of major businesses that will enable the government to implement more ambitious, comprehensive and consistent programs in the social, healthcare, environmental, urban development and other areas,” the Premier noted.
Emphasizing that the design of the tax code implies a vast amount of work, the head of government said he would appreciate having the active and effective collaboration of all the stakeholders, including political parties, businesses, non-governmental and international organizations.
“The tax code will be developed in an atmosphere of maximum transparency: any such recommendation, problem or proposed amendment as may arise throughout the design work shall be discussed in advance with the representatives of business circles on different platforms and in various formats,” Hovik Abrahamyan added.
The Prime Minister wished the participants fruitful work and urged them to make a concerted effort to pursue this important undertaking.
“I voiced this idea as early as two years ago when I was the President of the National Assembly. The introduction of the new tax code is the pledge of our country’s enhanced competitiveness,” the Prime Minister concluded.
The conference is attended by members of the Armenian government, officials from the Georgian Ministry of Finance, foreign ambassadors accredited in Armenia, representatives from international organizations, business circles, civil society and experts.
The discussions will focus on the need to introduce a unified tax code in Armenia based on the principle of public-private sector partnership. The international experience pertaining to the reform of tax legislation will be introduced, including that of the Republic of Georgia, the tax and customs reforms underway in Georgia, etc.
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The USAID-funded four-year tax reform program (TRP) is aimed at improving business competitiveness and reducing tax burden in Armenia. The TRP is supposed to help the Ministry of Finance to develop an efficacious fiscal policy in tune with the applicable international standards and best practices.
