LKY School welcomed a total of 201 tax officers and faculty from India for an Executive Programme on “Public Sector Leadership and Management” in Singapore, held over six runs from January to February 2015. The junior officers from the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) under the Ministry of Finance constitute the 64th and 65th batches undergoing the 18-month preparatory training at the National Academy for Customs, Excise and Narcotics (NACEN) near New Delhi.
For these young officers, one key challenge back home will be the implementation of a goods and services tax (GST). This tax reform could prove a staggering task in a country of 1.3 billion people, with a complex federal framework comprising 29 states and 7 union territories.
Consequently, each one-week programme introduced participants to Singapore’s challenges and approaches from closing tax gaps to implementing GST for businesses. Participants also learnt about other elements in Singapore’s tax regime and public service practices and discussed how this could be applied in the context of India’s national development and economic growth.
Practitioners from Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) shared their personal insights with participants. The programme also included a visit to the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA).
Outside training hours, participants did not miss opportunities to shop for the latest electronic gadgets and sample Singaporean food, as well as organise trips to attractions such as the National Orchid Garden and Sentosa.
Executive Education has trained almost 400 Indian tax officers as part of its cooperation with NACEN since 2013, and the team is looking forward to welcoming batch number 66 by the end of the year.
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Date:
Friday, 13 March 2015