WASHINGTON, February 16, 2010 – The World Bank Board of Directors today approved a US$17 million loan for the Kazakhstan Tax Administration Reform Project (TARP). The Project, with an overall value of US$ 57 million, is co-financed by the Government of Kazakhstan (in the amount of US$ 40 million). The Project will facilitate efforts to make the Tax Administration more efficient and effective through the introduction of modern standards.
“The Project will have a positive impact on the business climate by improving client services, strengthening institutional and human capacity in the tax administration, reducing the burden of taxpayer compliance, and diminishing the potential for corruption,” remarked Motoo Konishi, the World Bank Regional Director for Central Asia.
TARP will draw from the Bank’s considerable experience in revenue administration modernization programs, particularly in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eastern Europe and on the extensive analytical work in the tax reform field conducted by the Bank in Kazakhstan in previous years. It will assist the Government of Kazakhstan and the Ministry of Finance in the implementation of a comprehensive institution-building exercise for the Ministry’s Tax Committee.
“The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan maintains an ongoing dialogue on key economic reform issues with the Bank. The reform of the Tax Administration is part of the comprehensive initiative to increase the country’s competitiveness through an improved business environment for taxpayers,” said Karim Massimov, Prime-Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. “In the past two years Kazakhstan, like many other countries, has significantly expanded cooperation with the World Bank. Going forward, we intend to continue drawing on the Bank's analytical and financial resources to support our reform program and facilitate recovery from the crisis. Therefore, to accommodate our growing demand for Bank financing, the Republic of Kazakhstan expresses its support for the current initiative to increase the capital of the World Bank.”
TARP has four main components:
- An Institutional Development Component is aimed at the optimization of the structure of the tax administration to match functional requirements, at increasing institutional efficiency and at improving HR-management practices with a strong focus on motivation, honesty and integrity.
- An Operational Development Component aims to improve and further develop core tax administration operations through the re-engineering of business processes, the introduction of an automated risk management system, universal filing methodology, creation of a modern call-center, etc.
- An IT Infrastructure Development Component attempts to adjust all the information systems to the unified technology approach, as well as develop a comprehensive and integrated tax management system.
- A Project Management Component would manage the change that would take place, and ensure the timely and efficient allocation of resources.
Project implementation and the achievement of project objectives will be overseen by a Project Steering Committee which will be chaired by the Minister of Finance, and will include key stakeholders, both in the private sector and related government agencies.
The World Bank’s overall mission in Kazakhstan is to improve people’s lives by promoting diversification and competitiveness of the economy and creating more job opportunities. Since July 1992, the Bank has provided 34 loans to Kazakhstan for the total amount of more than 4.2 billion US dollars.
