What is it?
The main objective of the First Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean for inclusive, sustainable and equitable global taxation is to address the common challenges that arise in the region in terms of international taxation in a context of globalization, digitalization of the economy, race to the bottom, opacity in the possession of wealth, and transfer of corporate profits to tax havens. The initiative, under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance of Colombia, seeks that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean align their positions in a coordinated face of these challenges in order to find solutions to common problems, so that the interests of the region are sufficiently visible in the debates and negotiations of international tax policy. and that contribute significantly to the enormous fiscal challenges that the countries of the region currently face. For its part, ECLAC has made clear its full support for the initiative and its commitment to turn this first summit, unprecedented in the region, into a permanent forum for tax decision-making in Latin America.
Thus, the initiative will have 3 key moments:
- May 2 and 3 (Bogotá, Colombia): Preparatory event with civil society and academia: «Rethinking global taxation: towards an inclusive, sustainable and equitable system», an event where the different relevant issues to be addressed by the Governments of the region at the Summit will be collected. This conference seeks to have the participation of all stakeholders in the most relevant regional and global tax issues.
- May 15 and 16 (Santiago de Chile, Chile): Pre-summit on governance at ECLAC.
- July 27 and 28 (Cartagena, Colombia): Latin American and Caribbean Ministerial Summit, where the issues included in the pre-summit will be discussed and the structure and governance of the new regional platform discussed at ECLAC will be specified.
Why is it important? Why now?
While the challenges facing achieving fair and equitable international taxation for all countries are long-standing, the current global context, which is hitting particularly vulnerable regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean hardest, has made the need to generate coordinated and agreed fiscal responses to address these problems even more important and urgent.
It is therefore imperative that the governments of the region agree on cooperation and coordination mechanisms at the regional level that will contribute to a reform of the international tax system that leads to the generation of additional resources for the financing of social protection systems. A key framework is the endorsement and promotion of the establishment of the Tax Convention within the United Nations that leads to a global decision-making structure in international taxation in an equitable and inclusive manner.
This Latin American Summit is then presented as a decisive political occasion so that positions can be jointly built in the key of a regional bloc to promote a new space for negotiation, thus strengthening the common interests of the region in this new process.
How to participate in this initiative?
One of the most important moments will be the preparatory event with civil society and academia on May 2 and 3: Rethinking global taxation: towards an inclusive, sustainable and equitable system. It is an opportunity for the different civil society organizations, unions, and social movements of the region to convey their diagnoses, concerns and proposals to the governments of the region.
For participation in the preparatory event with civil society and academia, the Ministry of Finance of Colombia has launched a call, inviting you to send a 500-word summary of the document to be presented at the event. The deadline for submission of abstracts will be March 12, 2023,
Likewise, 8 thematic lines have been defined that will define the content of the panels of the event, and therefore can also guide the production of the abstracts and documents that can be presented. All relevant information for shipping can be found here.
It is important to clarify that the contributions for this event – which will be evaluated by a committee of experts composed of academics, members of social organizations and officials of the Colombian Government – can be presented individually, in groups, or on behalf of organizations, alliances or networks. It is also important to note that contributions do not have to be «academic», and therefore any type of formats or types of document are welcome.
