The Tax Programme of the OECD Korea Policy Centre (KPC), in collaboration with the OECD and the Asia Development Bank, co-organized the International Tax Seminar at the President Hotel in Seoul, Korea, July 4-6, 2023.

The seminar was organized as a hybrid seminar (offline and simultaneous online seminar via Zoom) for tax officials from the Asia-Pacific region.

The seminar focused on the OECD’s International Survey on Revenue Administration (ISORA) database and included a workshop on comprehensive interpretation of the ISORA 2023 survey and how to utilize ISORA data. OECD experts provided lectures to tax officials from Asia-Pacific countries on how to use ISORA data, examples of RA-FIT Data Portal features, and data collection platforms. Participants presented the current status of ISORA implementation and its main features, focusing on countries with ISORA, and discussed how to use ISORA data in breakout groups after the lectures.

As the first face-to-face seminar after the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 40 tax officials from 18 non-OECD countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, participated.

The OECD and ADB trainers included Mr. Oliver Petzold, Mr. Vegard Holmedahl, Mr. Daisuke Miura, Ms. Annette Chooi, and Ms. Saturnina Balaguer.

As a welcome event before and after the seminar, ice-breaking events were organized by the Tax Programme, which included learning Korean greetings and quizzes on Korean traditions. As a cultural event, a tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace and the National Folk Museum was held on the second day of the event.