2025
Held in Dublin, Ireland on 11 & 12 June 2025, hosted by Ireland’s Department of Finance.
Knowledge Partners
Agenda and report
The key challenges facing finance ministries
Accounting for the changing world: the impact of volatile global order on finance ministries
How to boost productivity – in government and beyond
How to tackle fraud in government
From AI to crypto: Getting taxation right for the digital economy
The discussion in the sessions informed the development of The Future of the Finance Ministry study, which was also based on interviews with 10 senior leaders from finance ministries around the world.
2024
Held in Dublin, Ireland on 5 & 6 June 2024, hosted by Ireland’s Department of Finance.
Knowledge Partners
Agenda and report
Opening session
The ‘four Ds’: Ireland’s chief economist spells out the major challenges governments face
How finance ministries can use artificial intelligence
How AI is transforming Ireland’s revenue collection
Making tax less taxing
Transforming taxation: tracking the revolution in revenue collection
How to improve public service productivity
If it counts, count it: government finance leaders on boosting productivity
Using just in time insight in government finance and service delivery
How governments can stay afloat in the data tsunami
2023
Held in Rabat, Morocco on 6 & 7 June 2023, hosted by Noureddine Bensouda
General Treasurer of the Kingdom, Morocco.
Knowledge Partners
Agenda and report
The Celtic tiger awakens: lessons from Ireland’s ‘weird economy’
https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/the-celtic-tiger-awakens-lessons-from-irelands-economy/
Challenging the accepted wisdom: why economics isn’t ‘up to the job’ of tackling climate change
https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/challenging-the-accepted-wisdom-why-economics-isnt-up-to-the-job-of-tackling-climate-change/
Why public servants have 2.5 quintillion reasons to make better use of data
https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/why-public-servants-have-2-5-quintillion-reasons-to-make-better-use-of-data/
‘It harms taxpayer compliance to see a lot of tax evasion and avoidance going on’: how governments can reshape obsolete tax systems
https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/it-harms-taxpayer-compliance-to-see-a-lot-of-tax-evasion-and-avoidance-going-on-how-governments-can-reshape-obsolete-tax-systems/
The digital souk: reforming procurement in Morocco
https://www.globalgovernmentforum.com/the-digital-souk-reforming-procurement-in-morocco/
2022
Held in Tallinn on 1 & 2 June 2022, hosted by Evelyn Liivamägi, Deputy Secretary General for Financial and Tax Policy, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Estonia.
Knowledge Partners
Agenda and report
A high price for inaction? Addressing inflation
When the black swans come home to roost: explaining inflation
A study of stimulus: lessons from pandemic support programmes
The economic emergency services: finance departments and the pandemic
Finance leaders’ crucial roles in digital transformation
Money talks – but does it listen? How government finance departments can help unlock digital transformation
Policymaking: finance as an enabler, not a constraint
More information but less influence? A dilemma for government finance departments
A sustainable future for fiscal policy
The green gold rush: a sustainable future for finance policy
“It’s not difficult to understand this inflation. The difficult thing to understand is why it took so long. There was a huge monetary and fiscal expansion for almost 15 years. Everything comes up in bubbles – and those bubbles are surfacing now.”
Dr Markus Sovala, Director General, Statistics Finland
2021
Held virtually on 21 & 22 October 2021
Knowledge Partners
Agenda and report
The big picture: managing economic growth and the public finances
‘A global inflection point’: Government finance chiefs set out how their countries are launching the post-COVID economy
A broader balance sheet: accounting for the real world
Fixing governments’ broken financial systems
Threat assessment: matching risk and resources
Always in the front line: the impossible demands of crisis response
Leading the way in civil service finance
Calculated risks: the pathfinding role of government finance chiefs
“It’s only a matter of time before the next pandemic, and to address that we have to go beyond national spending. We’ll need to look at new multilateral systems; better early warning systems; better systems of vaccine manufacturing and distribution. Otherwise, we’ll be back where we are today: tackling a crisis.”
Wenshan Yeo, Director of Economic Programmes, Ministry of Finance, Singapore
2020
Held virtually on 22 & 23 October 2020
Knowledge Partners
Agenda and report
Learning from the financial crisis: economic growth and public finances from 2021
Spare room superheroes: how finance departments met the pandemic threat
Rebuilding economies: stimulus packages for tomorrow’s economies
Feeding the people, not the sharks: supporting citizens through the pandemic
Resource allocation, system oversight and the drive for public sector impact
Layers upon layers: how financial data paints a picture of the pandemic
Funding and delivering infrastructure in the post-COVID world
Building for the future: delivering infrastructure for the post-COVID world
“It was in our hands to prevent this real economy crisis from becoming a financial crisis.”
Pablo de Ramón-Laca
Director General of Treasury and Financial Policy, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Spain
2019
Took place in Paris on 6 & 7 June 2019, hosted by Michel Houdebine, Chief Economist, Ministry of Economy and Finance, France.
Knowledge Partners
Agenda and report
Preparing for the next economic crisis
The roots of risk: how economic imbalances are poisoning politics
Monitoring and managing public sector performance
Happy shoppers: spending public money well
Finance departments’ crucial roles in digital transformation
Treasuries & transformation: finance departments’ key roles in digital
Building productivity, sharpening competitiveness
The productivity problem: causes, consequences and cures
Don’t respond, avert: funding preventive services
The power of prevention: de-risking the future
“The Global Government Finance Summit exists to help you as leaders of finance ministries to learn from and build links with your peers overseas, identifying the tools and innovations that can help you overcome the challenges you face.”
Kevin Sorkin, CEO, Global Government Forum
2018
Took place in Berlin on 27 & 28 April 2018, hosted by Ludger Schuknecht, Chief Economist, Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin, Germany
Knowledge Partners
“I was struck by how much we have in common, particularly in shared services development and in areas where we could make it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to work with government.”
Rosemary Huxtable, Secretary, Department of Finance, Australia
2017
Took place in London on 19 & 20 May 2017, hosted by Tom Scholar, Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury.
Knowledge Partners
“It’s really good to hear a perspective from virtually every continent on the globe on how very different countries deal with common issues and challenges, picking up new ideas that we can all take back to our finance ministries and think about. The challenge is to return to work more enthusiastic about our ability to think differently and constructively in trying to address these things.”
James Bowler, Director General for Public Spending, HM Treasury, UK
2016
Hosted in Singapore by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance in April 2016, this second annual event was attended by high-ranking civil servants from nine countries, along with representatives from knowledge partner EY and event organiser Global Government Forum.
Knowledge Partners
“I believe we learn best from our peers through
such open conversations… delegates would be
tapping into the wisdom everyone has distilled
from years of policymaking.”
Peter Ong, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Singapore
2015
Hosted in Singapore by Mr Peter Ong, Permanent Secretary for its finance ministry in April 2015, the event was attended by senior officials from 14 countries across four continents, with representatives of CIPFA International and knowledge partner EY.
Knowledge Partners
“Useful insights of practices that work in other countries. Sharing discussions are candid which is very helpful.”
Lim Soo Hoon, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Singapore