Finance Minister Lawrence Wong to attend G20 meetings in Venice; tax reform on agenda
Minister Lawrence Wong speaks in an interview with CNA on Jan 7, 2021.
SINGAPORE: Finance Minister Lawrence Wong will visit Venice from Jul 9 to Jul 11 to participate in Group of 20 (G20) meetings under the Italian G20 Presidency.
He will attend the G20 High-Level Tax Symposium, which will discuss strategies to advance domestic tax reforms and possible ways to enhance international cooperation on common climate targets, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Wednesday (Jul 7).
Mr Wong will also join the Third Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting (FMCBG), which is set to discuss the state of the global economy and international taxation, the ministry said.
That will include discussions on a global framework for tax reform that 130 countries supported on Jul 1 following talks held by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
READ: Global tax reform plan goes to the G20
The proposed reforms would see reallocation of taxing rights to countries where the customers of multinational corporations are based, and a new minimum tax rate of at least 15 per cent.
Singapore was among the countries to support the proposal, Mr Wong said in Parliament on Tuesday.
While the proposals may affect Singapore's corporate income tax revenues and limit the effectiveness of its tax incentives, it remains "too early to work out the exact impact", he added.
READ: 'Still too early to work out exact impact' of global corporate tax reform - Lawrence Wong
The FMCBG will also discuss pandemic preparedness and response, including the Report of the High-Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
That panel, formed in January, is co-chaired by Singapore's Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
While in Venice, Mr Wong will also participate in the International Conference on Climate Change, which will discuss policies to transition towards a low-carbon and greener economy, said MOF.
He will be accompanied by officials from the ministry.
Mr Tharman will also visit Venice from Jul 9 to Jul 10 to join the FMCBG, said the Prime Minister's Office.
He will present the report of the G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
On Jul 9, Mr Tharman will launch the report - A Global Deal for Our Pandemic Age - along with Director General of the World Trade Organization and former finance minister of Nigeria Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers.
