QU, QFC prepare for holding conference on fiscal policy, economic development

Qatar University (QU) is due to hold the 2nd session of the Conference on Fiscal Policy and Economic Development in partnership with the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) under the title "Global Tax Reform & its Implications on Gulf States" with the participation of a wide spectrum of experts, researchers, including financial and tax policymakers on September 20-21.

The conference, which is supervised by QU College of Business and Economics, mainly intends to discuss the impact of international tax reform on GCC states and propose some recommendations on the best practices required for tax reform and bridge the gap between researchers and policymakers to further support the reform initiatives in this sector.Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Dean of the College of Business and Economics Rana Sobh said that the conference seeks to achieve integration with the college's efforts in serving the community and the national economy, in addition to discussing the financial and international issues that might have reflections on the economy in general, and local and foreign investment in particular. The conference will achieve integration with the college efforts in conducting applied researches that would essentially reflect the reality in which we live she said, in addition to providing academic programmes in conformity with the business market requirements, noting that a specialised and branch programme will be laid out in the field of tax for bachelor students in the year 2023.For his part, Financial Chief and Tax Officer at QFC Hamed al-Saadi underlined, in similar statements to QNA, the importance of this conference that addresses tax reforms, adding that the changes that have been made to the global tax system yielded unique and vital consequences on GCC states that largely adopt economic diversification strategies and attract external investment on an attractive tax system, adding that the second pillar of tax base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project known as global minimum tax poses unprecedented challenges to tax policymakers in the region, and this procedure requires the design of appropriate response strategies, noting that the biggest challenge in this regard entails finding out the optimum balance in terms of providing attractive tax system from one hand, and preserving tax base from the other hand.Al-Saadi clarified that QFC is very interested in partnering with the academic entities to engage in carrying out projects to further remedy the local tax policies or the international tax issues since the QFC is a vital party that effectively contributes to optimising the attractiveness of the business environment in Qatar and diversifying its economy. It was pointed out that QFC has already worked with QU to offer a tax awareness programme with the participation of major accounting enterprises in Qatar, which resulted in rolling out a new tax discipline in QU, adding that the conference comes in recognition of these efforts made and would provide a unique opportunity that enables university representatives, consultancy companies, corporate tax officials and tax policymakers to converge and confer with prestigious international entities.Assistant Professor of Economics at QU, Dr Mahmoud Abdellatif, the official in charge of the conference programme, said in his statement to QNA that the second session of the conference will attract experts and professionals in the field of tax policies from several regional, international institutions, major accounting enterprises, including researchers and academics from a wide range of universities in Australia, New Zealand, UK, France and Netherlands, in addition to the attendance of several financial policymakers from Qatar and abroad, adding that the conference will discuss the latest developments witnessed by the world at the level of global tax policies in light of the substantial changes at the global level which had imposed new criteria for the tax that were reflected on the business environment and capital flows to GCC states and others.The conference programme comprises the discussion of 20 working papers on three core themes in the area of international tax reforms, global minimum tax, tax reform and VAT, challenges of cost of tax compliance, in addition to reviewing some experiences in tax reforms in several countries.