Madam President of the ECOSOC,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates and participants,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

The Group is delighted to engage in this special meeting on international cooperation in tax matters. We believe that in order for meaningful progress to be achieved in this area, there is the need to discuss at the United Nations and have intergovernmental deliberations on how to address the gaps in this topic, while at the same time respecting member countries’ policy space in their quest to achieve economic growth.

We express our deep concern that there is still no single global inclusive forum for international tax cooperation at the intergovernmental level. We insist on the need for inclusive and effective platforms to design and discuss international tax rules and norms at the UN.

This is why, we welcome the decision to begin intergovernmental discussions in New York at United Nations Headquarters on ways to strengthen the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation, including the possibility of developing an international tax cooperation framework or instrument that is developed and agreed upon through a United Nations intergovernmental process, taking into full consideration existing international and multilateral arrangements. We also look forward to the UN Secretary-General’s report which will outline potential next steps, such as the establishment of a Member State-led, open-ended ad hoc intergovernmental committee to recommend actions on the options for strengthening the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation, while fully taking into account the different needs and capacities of all countries.

We believe that these important steps would go a long way in not only strengthening international cooperation in tax matters, but it would allow all States, including developing countries, to have an equal say on issues related to tax matters as well.

We reiterate that appropriate emphasis must be placed on an enabling global environment and global partnership for development, balanced against the increased emphasis being placed on domestic resource mobilization. In this regard, we underline that it is counterproductive to highlight the importance of domestic resource mobilization in developing countries, while at the same time not robustly tackle areas that impede their ability to capture necessary resources.

Concluding, we stress that effective taxation is critical in the mobilization of domestic resources for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and overall economic advancement of developing countries. We reiterate the need to continue addressing the international dimension of taxation including the need to strengthen international cooperation on tax matters and look forward to the commencement of intergovernmental discussions in line with resolution A/Res/77/244 on ways to strengthen the inclusiveness and effectiveness of international tax cooperation.

I thank you.