On February 16, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a grant to the Philippine Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for technical assistance to upgrade its digital infrastructure and enhance citizen services for millions of Filipinos. USTDA’s assistance continues a successful, decades-long partnership that has advanced priority information and communications technology infrastructure across the Philippines.
“USTDA is supporting an ambitious effort by the Bureau of Internal Revenue to identify and deploy the most innovative ICT solutions in support of its vital mission. Our assistance will help the Bureau meet its data and cybersecurity needs as it navigates an increasingly complex technology environment,” said Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA’s Acting Director. “Our involvement in this project will also create opportunities for American firms to support the Philippine government’s digital transformation goals.”
USTDA’s technical assistance will create a digital strategy roadmap, workforce development plan and implementation plan for an in-house data center that will collectively enhance BIR’s e-filing and e-payment systems. By building a platform for more efficient and transparent revenue collection, USTDA’s grant will enhance the Philippines’ tax reform and long-term digital transformation efforts.
U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires John C. Law, who signed the grant on behalf of USTDA, said, “This grant in support of BIR’s digital transformation efforts will lead to improved network performance, increased information security, reduced costs, and greater transparency, all of which are vital to BIR’s tax administration duties.”
BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay acknowledged the steadfast support of the USTDA, articulating that the technical assistance “will be invaluable as BIR undertakes the complex review and assessment of its ICT infrastructure, including the strategic roadmap to modernize BIR systems and infrastructure, aligned with and responsive to the BIR mission and mandate of the incessant pursuit of improving tax compliance and raising more revenue for the government.”
“I thank the people and the government of the United States, represented here today by Chargé d’ Affaires John Law, for supporting our efforts to harmonize the Bureau’s information and communications technology infrastructure,” added Carlos G. Dominguez, Philippine Secretary of Finance. “Your support will make the Bureau of Internal Revenue a more effective agency. It will keep the agency abreast with the rapidly advancing financial technologies. It will dramatically improve the agency’s organizational capacity and collection efficiency.”
Since 1992, USTDA has funded more than 140 activities in the Philippines.
U.S. businesses interested in submitting proposals for the USTDA-funded technical assistance should visit https://ustda.gov/work/bid-on-an-overseas-project/.
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