Republic of Cyprus Second Voluntary National Report - Sustainable development goals

113 GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES Official Development Assistance • As an EU member state, Cyprus contributes yearly to the European Development Fund, which is the main provider of development assistance to African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries and the overseas territories. • Following the August 2020 explosion in Beirut, Cyprus pledged assistance to the Lebanese Government in the form of €5 million, which is under the process of disbursement, for the implementation of various relief programmes. • Cyprus participates to the European Neighbourhood Policy, which provides development assistance to women-based programmes in neighbouring Middle-Eastern countries. • Cyprus, in accordance with the rest of the members of the EU, has supported efforts to relief the debt of mainly African countries, which emerged as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. • The Ministry of Finance, signed cooperation agreements in the fields of science, technology, and innovation with neighbouring developing countries. Domestic Resource Mobilisation • In an effort to improve tax collection, a centralised Tax Department was introduced in 2014 resulting from the consolidation of two previously separate Tax Departments for direct and indirect taxation. By centralising the country’s tax administration, the aim was to make the national tax collection system more efficient, and have it result in increased tax revenues. • Efforts to further modernise tax administration are ongoing, including digital enhancements and new IT systems.