SANTIAGO, Chile – Authorities from the countries that make up the Regional Platform for Tax Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean (PTLAC) met today at the central headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile, where the second meeting of this regional initiative’s council of ministers of treasury, economy and finance took place.
There, the PTLAC members supported the motion for Brazil to serve as pro tempore chair of the Platform, taking over from Chile, which had assumed this responsibility during the 2024-2025 period.
The secretary of economic policy at Brazil’s ministry of finance, Guilherme Santos Mello, expressed gratitude for the recognition implicit in holding the pro tempore presidency, and he sustained that this platform is a unique space for cooperation between the region’s ministries of treasury, economy and finance to generate knowledge and share experiences on tax policy challenges.
“Brazil assumes the pro tempore presidency of the PTLAC with great pleasure and determination. We have been strongly committed to international tax cooperation to pursue more progressive fiscal systems that would contribute to reducing inequalities and to a more inclusive international fiscal debate. Our role in the G20 presidency made this clear. We have been working to further the process that we began on that occasion in the various forums that have addressed the issue of international tax cooperation, such as the United Nations Convention, the presidency of the BRICS, the debates of the OECD, the FFD4 and the COP30.
The PTLAC is an important and innovative regional cooperation initiative that could lay the foundations for regional cooperation processes on fiscal matters, serving as an example for the rest of the world. Building on the significant legacy of the PTLAC’s two prior chairs, we are committed to supporting the pertinent assessments carried out in the working subgroups over the last two years, with the aim of acting as a bold and proactive chair. We will also make an effort to expand this platform’s scope, attempting to contribute to solidifying adequate and just financing for sustainable development in our region,” Santos Mello indicated.
Meanwhile, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs – the executive secretary of ECLAC, which is the United Nations organization that serves as the Platform’s Technical Secretariat – emphasized that the PTLAC’s work is aimed at building, through participation and agreement, a space for dialogue among the ministries of treasury, economy and finance with the purpose of achieving international and regional tax policies that tend to be progressive, equitable, environmentally and socially sustainable, and conducive to growth and to reducing inequalities.
During the meeting, Chilean finance under secretary Heidi Berner pointed up the Platform’s achievements during Chile’s term as pro tempore chair.
“During this second year of the PTLAC’s operations, we have been able to consolidate the working groups that allow for creating spaces to share public policies and exchange opinions about the region’s distinct realities, with the aim of forging agreements that would enable us to make coordinated progress towards more efficient, more equitable and just tax systems that promote sustainable development,” he stated.
In addition, participants presented the results of the working subgroups on progressivity in tax systems, tax benefits and environmental taxation. This allowed the country representatives invited to the event to be able to express their views regarding regional priorities and the prospects for future work.
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