Maldives Hosts 8th Meeting of the Asia Initiative

The 8th Asia Initiative Meeting of the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes was held in the Maldives from May 26 to 28, 2025, at the Villa Nautica Resort. This regional gathering brought together 70 representatives from 12 countries, 4 development partners, and 3 observers. Participants engaged in in-depth discussions on key topics, including implementation of the amended common reporting standard and the crypto-asset reporting framework. During the meeting, key highlights included renewal of the initiative’s mandate, updates on the initiative's overall progress, along with presentations from several member countries on their implementation of tax transparency standards.

Launched at the Global Forum Plenary on November 17, 2021, the Asia Initiative is a capacity-building effort aimed at promoting the implementation of internationally agreed standards on transparency and Exchange of Information (EOI) across the Asian region. The goal of the initiative is to leverage these tax transparency standards to tackle tax evasion and other Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs).

The 8th Asia Initiative Meeting was hosted and co-chaired by Mr. Hassan Zareer, Co-Chair of the Asia Initiative and Commissioner General of the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority, alongside Mr. Eduard Hakobyan, Co-Chair of the Asia Initiative and Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of Armenia. During this meeting, the third edition of the Tax Transparency in Asia 2025 report was unveiled, outlining the progress made by Asian jurisdictions in implementing and effectively utilizing tax transparency standards throughout 2024.

Since signing the Bali Declaration on July 14, 2022, the Maldives has consistently demonstrated strong support for the tax transparency agenda. Through its active engagement, Maldives seeks to enhance domestic resource mobilization, combat illicit financial flows, and strengthen the implementation of tax transparency standards.

As the Asia Initiative moves forward, the Maldives is proud to work alongside representatives from across the region to make tax systems more transparent, fair, and collaborative.