(Yicai) Oct. 14 -- Member countries of China’s Belt and Road Initiative have suggested at the seventh BRI Tax Administration Cooperation Forum that they jointly build a smarter tax administration system amid the rapid development of technologies, such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Faced with new opportunities and challenges brought by digital transformation, all parties should build consensus, strengthen collaboration, and enhance mutual trust to jointly advance smarter tax governance, Bimo Wijayanto, Indonesia’s director general of taxes, said in his welcome address at the forum.

The seventh BRITACOF kicked off yesterday in Jakarta, Indonesia, themed ‘Smart Taxation, Shared Prosperity.’ More than 300 delegates participated in the forum, including heads of tax authorities from nearly 40 jurisdictions, and representatives from eight international organizations, some institutes, and multinational enterprises.

Indonesia will keep improving its tax administration capacity, scale up the application of technologies, including AI, expand cooperation networks, and share practical experience with all partners to deliver common progress in tax administration, Wijayanto noted.

The forum’s theme is highly timely and of far-reaching significance, as technologies such as AI and cloud computing are exerting profound impacts on the economy and taxation and bringing new requirements for tax administration, said Bhishma Kumar Bhusal, director general of Nepal’s Inland Revenue Department.

Nepal will continue to fully integrate into the BRI Tax Administration Cooperation Mechanism community, strive for higher-quality and more efficient tax administration, and safeguard tax equity by pursuing innovation-driven growth, advancing capacity-building, and deepening international cooperation, Bhusal added.

The ‘Tax Administration Product Portfolio 2.0,’ the ‘Taxpayer Service Product Portfolio 2.0,’ and the ‘2026 Compilation of the BRI Tax Administration and Taxpayer Service Product Portfolio’ will be released during the three-day BRITACOF.

They advance practices and typical tax administration cases from BRI jurisdictions, aiming to promote alignment of tax administration rules, mutual recognition of standards, and joint capacity uplift, and provide more comprehensive toolkits and practical models for participating jurisdictions to enhance tax governance capacity and optimize the tax-related business environment.

Initiated by China in April 2019, the BRITACOM has 38 members and 30 observers, serving as an influential multilateral tax cooperation platform in the international tax field under the BRI.

Editor: Futura Costaglione