How To Develop A Regional Economic Management System

Transcription

1 SEMCAR - First Steering Committee Meeting Minutes The First Steering Committee Meeting for the Supporting Economic Management in the Caribbean (SEMCAR) was held on April 7-8, 2011 in Barbados 1. The meeting was chaired by Doug Williams (Director General of Caribbean Program, Canadian High Commission). The following colleagues participated in the meeting: Mrs. Carolyn Charles-Tonge (Antigua and Barbuda, Budget Director), Ms. Heather Thompson (Barbados, Accountant General), Mr. Marion Palacio (Belize, Deputy Financial Secretary), Ms. Rosamund Edwards (Dominica Permanent Secretary), Mr. Timothy Antoine (Grenada, Permanent Secretary), Ms. Sonya Roopnauth (Guyana, Director of Budget), Mr. Devon Rowe, (Jamaica, Director General), Ms. Versilie Francis (St. Kitts and Nevis, Senior Economist), Mr. Agosta Degazon (St. Lucia, Accountant General), Ms. Yvette Barnwell-Wickham, (St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Senior Finance Officer ), Mrs. Adelien Wijnerman (Suriname, Permanent Secretary), Ms. Marlene Juman( Trinidad and Tobago, Permanent Secretary), Peter Berkeley (CIDA, Program Manager), Lynne Racine (CIDA, Councellor Development), Veronica Zavala (World Bank, Sector Manager), Adrianne Cheasty (IMF, Senior Adviser, Fiscal Affairs Department), Kathy Lalazarian (World Bank, Task Team Leader, Sr. Public Sector Management Specialist), Juan Navas Sabater (World Bank, Co-Task Team Leader, Lead ICT Specialist), Anat Lewin (World Bank, Operations Officer), Arturo Herrera (World Bank, Sr. Public Sector Management Specialist), Enrique Fanta (World Bank, Sr. Public Sector Management Specialist), Jenni Pajunen ( World Bank, Public Sector Management Consultant), Lord Walker (World Bank, Temporary), Vinette Keene(IMF, Technical Assistance Advisor ), Xavier Rame (IMF, Technical Assistance Advisor). The observers to the meeting included: Ms. Karlene Francis (OECS Secretariat, EGRIP Project), Brian Jones (CARTAC, Tax and Customs Revenue Advisor), Arnold McIntyre (CARTAC, Program Coordinator), Robert Mills (CARTAC, Tax Advisor), Denise Edwards-Dowe (CARTAC, Tax Advisor), Michel Marion, (CARTAC, Macro-Fiscal Advisor), Laurel Bain (ECCB, St. Kitts), Maria Barthelmy (ECCB, St. Kitts) Ms. Shanti Radja (Head Book-keeping Dept. Suriname), Mr. Krieshen Ramkhelawan (ICT Consultant, Suriname), Mr. Vincent Jubithana (ICT Official, Suriname). Representatives of other donor and partner organizations also participated in the SEMCAR launch reception on April 6, The Steering Committee meeting participants agreed on the following main conclusions and next steps 2 : 1. Importance of information sharing and leveraging on past interventions It was agreed that it is necessary to use the existing structures for supporting regional integration to guarantee country ownership, sustainability and development impact. The beneficiary countries agreed to share existing assessments and documents with SEMCAR team prior to country scoping exercise (including but not limited to CARTAC tax, customs and PFM assessments, reports financed by other donors, Ministry of Finance organization charts). There are needs to support the implementation of the existing action plans. 1 The agenda of the meeting is included as Annex 1 of the minutes 2 SEMCAR aims at supporting the beneficiary countries with the development needs that were identified during the Steering Committee meeting. However, it is acknowledged that the resources might not be sufficient to address all the needs. 1

2 All the beneficiary countries will appoint focal points for SEMCAR, while the Permanent Secretaries will participate in the Steering Committee. SEMCAR team will review the existing information prior to conducting the high-level scoping assessments. The participants agreed to use the SEMCAR website for information sharing when the portal will become available. 2. Appreciating different needs and country systems in the region SEMCAR will support all beneficiary countries in assessing the adequacy of the currently used ICT systems as well as exploring the future options. While SEMCAR will focus on supporting regional solutions 3, there is an agreement on recognizing also the countries that do not use the systems used by majority and trying to accommodate also their needs. Regardless of information systems used, there is a need for supporting negotiations for maintenance contracts. It is necessary to establish a negotiation team as soon as possible, and new arrangements are needed by Generic trainings that are not brand specific will be offered as part of SEMCAR. It would be necessary to develop interfaces among the different ICT systems used in different countries. 3. Enhancing tax administration There is a clear consensus on the need to replace SIGTAS and assess the alternative systems but upgrades might be needed (possibly to the international version) while the process is ongoing. SEMCAR will provide support for the negotiation of the regional maintenance contracts and possibly through the upgrades. There is a need to build capacity on tax policy analysis in Ministries of Finance and tax units in the region. There is a need to continue simplifying the tax systems to enhance competitiveness and revenues; however this is likely to be out of scope for SEMCAR in phase 1. SEMCAR will support integrating processes related to VAT as well as the establishment of tax payer units. There is a need to train new tax administrators; mentoring program could be highly beneficial. The meeting supports the idea of exploring the alternatives for more environmentally sustainable taxation mechanisms available. 4. Enhancing customs management It is important to guarantee the complementarity of the customs systems, not only for revenue generation but also from the cost of doing business and trade facilitation perspectives. There is need to support the upgrades of the customs management systems. Support is needed for enhancing capacity for audits & risk management procedures. There is willingness to share customs information among the countries in the region, it was suggested that the customs legislations frameworks could be reviewed as part of SEMCAR and possibly a Memorandum of Understanding for information sharing could be developed among the beneficiary countries. There is also a need to support the exchange of information between tax and customs. There are training needs for both reviewing the business processes as well as the technical side. It would be necessary to provide training also for the marine units of customs regarding new technologies. 5. Enhancing public financial management (PFM) 3 The activity selection and prioritization criteria that was initially envisaged in the design of SEMCAR include (i) countries committed to a regional approach; (ii) activities that provide critical and immediate support to maintain existing ICT systems or services; (iii)activities that facilitate the linkages between systems; (iv) Careful selection of reforms and changes required as prerequisites for the effective implementation of Phase 2; (v) activities that are critical to ensure a smooth transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2; (vi) Activities supporting cost-effective customer service satisfaction and savings; (vii) country initiatives considered critical for local development, even if they are not regional, but necessary to achieve a minimum regional standard; (vii) country initiatives that support sustainability efforts. 2

3 There is a consensus that SmartStream has worked relatively well for those countries that are using it but there are serious concerns about the maintenance and licensing costs. Other IFMIS alternatives should be considered. Meanwhile, it is urgent to deal with SmartStream licenses as soon as possible; this could be a fast track for quick win. It was suggested that SEMCAR could play a role to help to solve the issues related to procurement. There is a need to support revising the legal frameworks, training and the IT platforms. This is also important from the perspective of use of country systems. Furthermore, the current procurement rules in place in some of the countries could prevent them moving to the regional solutions. There would be need for technical assistance to deal with state-owned enterprises and the business plans to reinforce macro-economic management. Support would be needed for overall PFM legislative frameworks as well as operational procedures. There is need to support computerized auditing. It was suggested that the balance of payments platform could be assessed as part of SEMCAR. Pension reform was noted as priority, but it is likely to be out of scope for SEMCAR. CARTAC is providing support on pension reform. Several countries are experiencing challenges related to the sequencing of the different PFM reforms with so many simultaneous short-term priorities. The sequencing depends heavily on the country context and current situation but it might be wise to start with improving the IFMIS to guarantee quality of information for decisionmaking. Creating a treasury single account would likely be among the early priorities as well. Afterwards other reforms e.g. performance budgeting could be considered. It is acknowledged that changing culture and policies can be tricky. It was suggested that costed sector strategies would need to be in place as a pre-condition to Mid-Term Expenditure Frameworks. A PFM workshop about additional SmartStream modules will be organized as part of EGRIP project in late Aprilearly May, the results could feed in to SEMCAR. 6. Establishing Regional Training and ICT Support Center There is a need to support the design and implementation of ICT policy frameworks. There is consensus regarding establishing the Regional Training and ICT Support Center but similar existing structures should be explored before proceeding. It is important to consider the sustainability of the regional training center after the donor financing runs out. There is an ongoing ICT project at CARICOM level; it would be good to liaise with them to look at their possible plans for regional center. There should be trainings available for all beneficiary countries independently of the ICT systems used. There is need for providing training on the capabilities of the tax, customs and public financial management systems for the highest levels of officials in addition to the technical level. Annual conferences for IFMIS system users are taking place but the coordination and communication often stops there. It would be highly beneficial to create virtual user groups. Support for negotiation and coordination of different systems and modules used in different countries would be needed. System connectivity seems to an issue and bottleneck for economic development in the region, a question could be added to address it in the country scoping questionnaire. Barbados has had a positive experience with use of multiple SmartStream modules and integrating their ICT support center, a learning event could be organize to share the experience with other participating countries. Mentoring program could be included to SEMCAR. 3

4 7. Program design, sustainability and results orientation It would be essential to be able to be able to generate results under SEMCAR from the beginning. It is essential to build mechanisms for sustaining the results over changes of administrations. Regarding the gender equality dimension of SEMCAR, it is suggested to target the activities for both genders instead of just women. There is a need to support change management to ensure sustainability of upgrades and new systems. Different levels, users, wider society and private sector to be considered. There is needed or both long and short term technical assistance. The high-level scoping exercise is needed to identify gaps. All countries are encouraged to try to identify key bottlenecks and pick the most urgent areas for support. It is also important to think carefully of the sequencing and prioritizing of the activities. 8. Coordination with other key partner institutions The SEMCAR team is committed to looking for better ways to assist and coordinate bi-and multilaterally with other partners such as CARTAC, EU, IDB, DFID, and USAID. The team should also liaise with other existing donor coordination groups (e.g. PFM donor groups) and other relevant thematic networks and communities of practice in the region. Close cooperation with CARTAC is needed, particularly among the advisors. 9. Next steps Minutes will be shared by the end of the week following the SC meeting. The beneficiary countries will appoint technical contact points for SEMCAR by April 22. The beneficiary countries will share all existing reviews and assessments with the SEMCAR team by April 15. All the studies and documents should be sent to semcarservice@worldbank.org. Survey questionnaires will be sent to the beneficiary countries after April 22 and completed within two weeks from reception. Next SEMCAR Steering Committee meeting will be organized tentatively in July 2011, potentially just before the Caribbean Development Bank s Board meeting in Barbados on July The results of the country scoping questionnaires as well as a tentative work plan for the first year will be discussed in the second SEMCAR Steering Committee meeting that will validate the plans. The meeting materials including the results framework and high-level draft work plan will be shared with the participants one week prior to the meeting. Barbados could help to facilitate a workshop or training on SmartStream through SEMCAR. Assisting the negotiations for a SmartStream maintenance contract is among the early priorities for SEMCAR. The team will proceed in creating portal for information sharing as soon as possible. The recruitment for the SEMCAR regional project coordinator and regional advisor positions is ongoing. The team is exploring options for SEMCAR office space in Barbados. 4

5 Annex 1: Supporting Economic Management in the Caribbean (SEMCAR): Agenda for Launch and First Steering Committee Meeting Accra Beach Resort, Barbados, April 6-8, 2011 Time Wednesday, April 6 07:00- SEMCAR Launch Cocktail Reception 09:00 pm Venue: Fig Tree Restaurant/Accra Beach Hotel Time Thursday, April SEMCAR Opening and Welcoming: Doug Williams, Director General, CIDA :00 Institutional Partnership Adrianne Cheasty, Senior Advisor, IMF Veronica Zavala, Sector Manager, World Bank Overview of SEMCAR (CIDA) Background, phased approach, synergies with CARTAC and other partners Project development objectives, main components, activities and expected results Feedback from the participants, discussion Coffee break Panel Discussion on Importance of Regional Integration Chair: Country Representative Objective: Interactive session between beneficiary countries and SEMCAR team on goals and expectations for SEMCAR program (questions for discussion to be disseminated in advance) Discussion with beneficiary countries led by country representative on goals for regional integration and what should be considered as critical regionally-based outputs Lunch Open Discussion Conclusion by Chair highlighting and comparing goals and expectations of beneficiary countries vis-à-vis those CIDA/Bank and IMF under SEMCAR Panel Discussion on World Bank and IMF Teams Response: PFM Component Chair: SEMCAR representative Objective: (i) Reporting back from WB and IMF on Regional Integration Panel on PFM; (ii) Discussion on Proposed work plan and methodology Component Leader Response including proposed results framework, details of proposed work plan, methodology for selecting beneficiary countries Feedback from Beneficiary country panel member Open Discussion Conclusion by Chair on Agreed Results Framework and Annual Work Plan 3:00-3:15 3:15 5:00 Coffee Break Panel Discussion on World Bank and IMF Teams Response: Tax and Customs Components Chair: SEMCAR representative 5

6 Objective: (i) Reporting back from WB and IMF on Regional Integration Panel on Revenue Administration; (ii) Discussion on Proposed work plan and methodology Component Leader Response Feedback from Beneficiary country panel member Open Discussion Conclusion by Chair on Agreed Results Framework and Annual Work Plan Summary of the Day s Proceedings and Outcomes SEMCAR Social Event 5:00-5: pm Time Friday, April 8 9:00- Panel Discussion on World Bank and IMF Teams Response: ICT Component 10:15 Chair: SEMCAR representative Objective: (i) Reporting back from WB and IMF on Regional Integration Panel; (ii) Discussion on Proposed work plan and methodology with specific focus on Regional Center Component Leader Response Feedback from Beneficiary country panel member Open Discussion Conclusion by Chair on Agreed Results Framework and Annual Work Plan Coffee Break SEMCAR Closing Session Summary of Agreements on the Overall SEMCAR Results Framework and Work Plan for 2011 Next steps including a summary on how the governance structure will work Agreeing on next meeting and chair 6