The development of a Regional plan for Integrated Border Management to be used by OECS countries was the focus of a Trade Logistics workshop which began in Roseau on Thursday May 15, 2014.
The workshop saw the participation of regional experts as well as officials from the Dominica Bureau of standards and Customs and Excise Division.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group partnered with the Government of Dominica, the Bureau of Standards and the Reform Management Unit in hosting the all important meeting.
“The IFC Strategy for the region is based on four pillars. One of them is integration and the most important part of what we do across the region on integration is here in the Caribbean as we feel that it is one of the most important initiatives that we might have in terms of development in the region,” Alvaro Quijandria- Program Manager-Investment Climate, IFC, told the opening Ceremony at the Fort Young Hotel.
Since 2007 the IFC has assisted over 50 countries in addressing border management efficiency.
The Trade Logistics Meeting, according to Quijandria, shared best practices on how to improve trade transaction processes in Dominica, and very importantly how the private sector could reduce costs associated with trade.
“We are going to be discussing today the topic of integration of information between technical agencies of Customs,” he said. “It is something that not many regions in the world have and we intend to use this experience to some other regions as this is a key process in showing this can be done, that the processes can be made more efficient, and that at the end, the users of the system can benefit from reduced costs for importing and exporting.”
Meanwhile, Dominica’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade, Employment and Diaspora Affairs, Careen Prevost said the meeting is in keeping with Government’s plan to improve trade logistics and fuel economic growth through increased private sector savings and trade flows.
“This one and a half day event will focus on how automation can be used to reduce the time and cost of clearing goods, by automating the procedures in the technical control agencies,” she stated.
She added that “The event will also look at systems that should be put in place to support the use of automation as a robust risk management system. This system we hope will benefit not just the traders but we hope that it will benefit all our consumers as it will protect the local market from poor quality imports.”
The regional plan for Integrated Border Management is expected to be used by the OECS countries for resource mobilization and will inform future projects by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The meeting concludes in Dominica on Friday May 16, 2014.
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