ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) decided to hire Chief Information Officer and consultants including procurement specialist, financial management specialist, environment & social management specialist and contract management specialist to work for Program Office established at FBR in various capacities.
According to the details, Government of Pakistan (GOP) and the Federal Board of Revenue Pakistan (FBR) have made significant progress in the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to govern meticulously and provide services to citizens, businesses and in particular to taxpayers.
Reforms for high performance and innovation in the Federal Board of Revenue are essential to meet the country’s national expenses and to provide financing tools for development. Hence, these reforms are in line with the objectives of the taxation reforms and vision 2025 of the government.
Pillar-III of vision 2025 concerns “Reforms-Governance, which emphasizes the efficiency of the public sector management in terms of reforms in tax administration, audits and accounts, public sector capacity building, access to justice, public information and statistical management, and overall paradigm shift of reforms in governance structure.
Similarly, pillar-VI of Vision 2025 is “Developing a Competitive Knowledge Economy through Value-Addition”, with a sub category of promoting “Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)”. The knowledge-based driven society transforms the overall socioeconomic status of country. The central and multidimensional role of ICT brings societal change, a driver of economic growth and a facilitator in better governance.
The main emphasizes of tax reforms is promoting voluntary tax compliance through enhanced facilitation of taxpayers, improvement of ICT based Data and Systems for boarding of tax base and improving accountability and transparency.
This reforms initiative will augment the FBR for better performance, reliable data, and the establishment of a data warehouse hub.
In this sense, hiring a Chief Information Officer (CIO) is a necessity, whose role will be to provide a vision and leadership for developing and implementing Information Technology September 2019 initiatives.
The Chief Information Officer will also direct the planning and implementation of tax administration IT systems in support of core business functions in order to improve cost effectiveness, service quality and business development.
The CIO will be responsible for all aspects of the organization’s information technology and systems.
FBR is implementing the Pakistan Raises Revenue Project with the assistance of the World Bank to contribute to a sustainable increase in domestic revenue by broadening the tax base and facilitating compliance. The credit includes a Technical Assistance (TA) component of US$80 million.
TA will finance the supply and installation of ICT equipment and software, and of cargo weighing, contactless scanning, and laboratory equipment for customs inspections of goods. It will also finance consulting and non-consulting services for software development, technical assistance (TA), and training for complex interventions (e.g., business process improvement, change management).
The FBR aims to improve its capacity to manage issues related to environmental safeguards and development, in line with the requirements of World Bank Environmental and Social Framework (ESF).
As under the World Bank-financed project, Environment and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP), Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and other related activities will be conducted in line with the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF).
