The Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade held an expanded meeting with the President of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce and the heads of a number of concerned entities to review the state’s efforts to develop the customs release system and facilitate the movement of exports and imports.
As part of efforts exerted for facilitating foreign trade movement and improving the business environment in Egypt, Engineer Hassan Al-Khatib, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, held an expanded meeting with Mr. Ahmed Al-Wakil, President of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce, in the presence of Mr. Sherif Al-Kilani, Deputy Minister of Finance, Engineer Essam Al-Naggar, President of the GOEIC, Mr. Ahmed Amawy, Head of the Customs Authority, Mr. Abdel-Aal Ali, Head of the International Transport Division, Mr. Mohamed Al-Argawy, Head of the Customs Brokers Division, and Mr. Sayed Abu Al-Qumsan, Advisor to the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce, whereas the meeting reviewed the state’s efforts to develop the customs release system and facilitate the movement of exports and imports.
The minister confirmed that the ministry is closely monitoring the implementation of a comprehensive program to reduce the average time for customs release, indicating the success in reducing the period from 16 days to only 5.8 days, and limiting a short-term goal set to reach two days before the end of the year.
Al-Khatib also indicated that the ministry has specified several principal procedures to achieve this goal, and their implementation is being monitored periodically in coordination with the GOEIC and the relevant entities to ensure achieving the targeted results within the specified deadlines.
The minister explained that during the meeting he listened to all the proposals and procedures presented by the participating parties with the aim of reaching an advanced stage next year, so that the release time would be reduced to limited hours, stressing that the ministry will follow up on these procedures step by step to ensure the effectiveness of implementation and achieve the required schedule.
Al-Khatib stressed that the work is not only limited to customs procedures, but extends to facilitating trade in general through addressing non-tariff trade barriers facing exporters and importers, noting that these barriers have been studied in detail in coordination with the concerned entities to provide practical and implementable solutions.
Al-Khatib indicated that the meeting concluded with a set of practical recommendations, including accelerating the implementation of electronic linking among ports, intensifying coordination between regulatory and financial bodies to simplify procedures, and monitoring performance on a weekly basis to ensure the achievement of time and field targets.
The minister noted that the ministry will continue holding periodic meetings to review implementation rates and assess the impact on the ground, in cooperation with the business community and relevant government agencies, with the aim of achieving integration between the agencies and reaching a modern customs system that keeps pace with the best global practices and supports the state’s plans to attract investments and expand the volume of foreign trade.
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