The courses are directed at countries in the Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), the Central Asian and Transcaucasian NIS (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) and Mongolia. The Vienna centre is hosted by the Austrian Ministry of Finance and is situated in the training centre of the Austrian Federal Customs Directorate. Each year it offers 7 to 10 weeks of highly specialised workshops on issues of international taxation and related domestic issues. Participants come mainly from Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries. The requirement for the Budapest centre which is hosted by the Hungarian Ministry of Finance and offers up to 7 weeks of seminars per year to participants for Central- and Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries in the future is currently being reviewed in the light of the changing emphasis of the programme. The Korea-OECD Tax Centre was established in 1997. Operated in co-operation with the Korean Ministry of Finance and Economy it offers 5 weeks of workshops on special issues in international taxation and related domestic issues for senior officials from Central and Eastern Asian countries (China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam).


Objectives
The OECD programme complements the assistance programmes of the OECD Member countries in assisting participating countries to adapt taxation practices consistent with a market economy. The programme facilitates experience-sharing between transition countries and OECD Member countries in the areas of international taxation, tax policy, tax administration and tax training. It contributes to the development and adoption of global tax standards in the area of international taxation. The programme promotes these standards and assists non-member countries to apply them in a correct and efficient way. For transition economies the establishment of a secure revenue base is a prerequisite for a successful move to a market economy. Their access to the experience and know-how of OECD Member countries is essential for the continuation of the reform process. A number of transition economies have made considerable progress in tax reform, but their tax systems require faster adaptation.