Korea’s Exim Bank to assist in the establishment of automated taxation system in the Sri Lanka
Korea’s Export-Import Bank is to reportedly assist in the establishment of an automated taxation system in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
According to reports, Colombo generates a considerably high amount of tax revenue.
The support from Korea Eximbank, which provides Official Development Assistance (ODA) for international development and cooperation, will include an analysis of the current status of the tax system and property information in Colombo, local media reports state.
The South Korean embassy has noted in a statement that the project, carried out through the Knowledge Sharing Programme (KSP), is expected to be completed in July 2018.
The Embassy has noted that KSP is a special technical assistance programme provided by the Korea Exim Bank under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance of Korea to share Korea’s development experience and knowledge accumulated over the past decades with partner countries.
An automated taxation system in the Colombo Municipality is needed as local authorities in Sri Lanka currently face challenges such as uncertain data on taxable property, omissions in charging taxes, and inefficient administrative procedures due to existing manual taxing methods.
“Considering this urgent need to build a strong tax information system, especially for the Colombo city which generates considerably high amounts of tax, the KSP team will design a plan for establishing a tax information system optimal for the Colombo city,” the statement has further noted.
OSL take:
The assistance provided by Korea’s Export-Import Bank to set up an automated taxation system in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo is a clear sign of the growing investment opportunities in Sri Lanka. The government’s policy of promoting e-governance in the country has opened up many investment opportunities since the policy needs to be implemented in all key state institutions. Therefore, foreign businesses/investors engaged in providing digital infrastructure solutions could look at the opportunities in Sri Lanka and engage with the Sri Lankan government.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/02052018/Z_2 |