INP-WealthPk
‘Pakistan Single Window’ Initiative to Transform Country’s International Trade Dynamics
May 30, 2022
By Abdul Wajid Khan ISLAMABAD, May 30 (INP-WealthPK): The successful implementation of Pakistan Single Window (PSW) initiative introduced by the Federal Board of Revenue will save the country around $500 million annually by transforming its international trade. The project was started in July 2020 and will be completed by June 2023. “The initiative will transform Pakistan’s international trade by adding great value to it,” said PSW Chief Executive Officer Syed Aftab Haider. Talking to WealthPK, he said PSW was one of the most significant reform initiatives introduced in the public sector during the last few years. He said the initiative had been launched to facilitate the country’s cross-border trade by reducing time and cost of doing business. The initiative had integrated 77 government divisions and departments into a single digital platform, thereby reducing costs, delays and providing ease of international trade, Aftab Haider added. “It will make trade clearance process more efficient and simpler, thus helping businessmen to achieve full online compliance for their trade.” “In the prevailing circumstances, over nine days are required to clear an import consignment, while it takes three to four days on average to clear an export consignment, which is much higher than the average clearance time of regional countries,” explained the PSW chief. He noted that the country’s banking system has also been integrated with PSW, thus eliminating the unnecessary paperwork and making all the necessary information available online. “Physical presence of traders is being reduced during the clearance process of their consignments.” PSW will share real time information to all relevant institutions about the clearance process, he said. “We are introducing latest technologies to protect all trade-related data to eliminate any possibility of unauthorised use,” Aftab Haider said, adding that a trade information portal is also being established to provide all relevant information to traders. “We are also building strong partnerships with the private sector under this initiative,” he said. PSW was also being integrated with TradeLens, which is being utilised around the world for international shipping by government and private sectors, he added. Aftab Haider said after integration with TradeLens, PSW would be able to start getting 127 diffident data elements and documents containing complete information about consignments from partner countries. “The integration will help Pakistan Customs assess consignments and provide ease for tax collections, besides countering money laundering and financial malpractices,” he said. Aftab Haider said PSW would also be integrated with other international data platforms to get timely, reliable, and authentic database for customs clearance. According to an official document, a copy of which is available with WealthPK, the PSW is an integrated digital platform that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfil all import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements. It aims at reducing the time and cost of doing business by digitalising Pakistan’s cross-border trade and eliminating paper-based manual processes. While Pakistan has invested heavily in seaports, motorways and other physical infrastructure, it lacks a comprehensive regulatory system to speed up the flow of goods into and out of the country. Though Pakistan Customs’ automated WeBOC clears about 95% of international exports and imports electronically, traders must still comply with non-customs regulations set by various government agencies that mostly use paper-based systems. So, the PSW platform would transform the country’s trading landscape as it will ensure automation and integration of cross-border trade-related procedures of customs and other government agencies, thus making trade activity faster, easier and cheaper. A complete and updated fiscal, regulatory and statistical information will also be readily available under the PSW initiative. As part of the trade facilitation and regional connectivity agenda, Pakistan is committed to reforming, modernising, upgrading and automating its system to match the ongoing investments in its infrastructure for cross-border trade. Pakistan Customs is leading the implementation of information and communication technologies-based PSW to facilitate trade and achieve compliance with provisions of the World Trade Organisation’s Trade Facilitation Agreement. The initiative will help Pakistan connect with evolving national, regional and global single-window platforms and establish and maintain a modern trade information portal to provide single repository for all regulatory and fiscal requirements. The PSW is a step closer to a more digitised Pakistan that will help the country achieve faster, inclusive and sustainable economic growth. PSW will facilitate trade by online processing of licences, permits, certificates, release orders and other relevant documents; lab management system and pre-shipment inspection companies. The structured data capturing on PSW will help all government agencies, including customs, to use modern technologies, including Artificial Intelligence and Big Data solutions, to effect digital transformation of the entire cross-border ecosystem.
