dec_2017c

34 35 THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE – ARUBA I n 1986,Aruba seceded from theNetherlandsAntil- les and became a separate,autonomousmember of the Kingdomof theNetherlands,under the Dutch crown.Aruba has full autonomyonmost matters, except those regarding defense,foreign affairs,and the Supreme Court.The government of Aruba is a repre- sentative democracywith a parliament,the Estates of Aruba,or“Staten,”inDutch,made up of 21ministers who serve four-year terms.The head of government is the primeminister; since 2009,it has beenMichiel “Mike”Godfried Eman II. TheMinistryof Finance and Government Organiza- tion,one of nine cabinet ministries reorganized after the 2013 elections,is headed byAngel Roald Bermu- MODERNIZINGTHE ECONOMY dez.Born inAruba and raised in theNetherlands,Ber- mudez studied fiscal and company lawat the Erasmus UniversityRotterdam; he subsequentlyobtained a postdoctoral title at LeidenUniversity. Atax lawyer byprofession,with stints at all the big four accounting firms (Ernst &Young,Deloitte,KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers),Bermudez retired from the private sector in 2010,and in 2011,hewas asked by the Dutch government to be Director of theTaxand CustomsAdministration of the CaribbeanNetherlands, responsible for supervising the import,export,and transit of goods; detecting fiscal,economic,and finan- cial fraud; levying and collecting taxes; and paying out income-related benefits for childcare,rent,and health care for the smaller islands of Bonaire,Saba,and St.Eu- statius.He retired from that position in June 2014,only THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE – ARUBA