Gammarth — "Capacity building in the tax field" was at the centre of a pan-African training held Monday in Gammarth, with the participation of 24 executives from different African countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, the Comoros, Malawi...

The training, to run until next February 1, is part of implementing a co-operation project (2012-2014) for the benefit of African countries.

It is jointly held by The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), the Finance Ministry, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Tunisian Technical Co-operation Agency (ATCT).

The project seeks to build the capacities of African countries so as to mobilise necessary tax resources to fund their policies by upgrading the skills of their human resources and sharing best practices in tax policies among beneficiary countries.

Finance Minister Elyes Fakhfakh said "the structural reform of the national tax system is among Tunisia's top priorities."

"This multilateral co-operation project provides an opportunity for experts and professionals to consolidate pan-African dialogue on governance of public finance," he added referring to the training.

The agenda of the pan-African training includes a presentation on the Tunisian experience in the tax policy from an analytical approach, laying emphasis on the main components of the Tunisian tax system (taxation of small-and-medium-sized enterprises-SMEs, taxation of natural resources and taxation of financial institutions and instruments).

A presentation on the Japanese experience in the relevant field is also scheduled.

Workshops will also be held to allow brainstorming on significant themes related to tax governance (real-estate tax, micro-finance, customs misdeclarations).