International Customs Day: Messages from Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar Minister for Finance and Revenue

TEXT: This indeed gives me great pleasure to celebrate this year’s International Customs Day focusing on the promotion of human resource, knowledge sharing and professional pride in Customs Service. I congratulate the WCO in inviting attention of the Customs all over the world towards an important theme which is critical for the organizational service delivery. The success of any organization fundamentally lies in its human resource, systems, procedures and service delivery. Pakistan Customs has been investing immensely in transforming its systems and procedures with the help of information technology. In coordination with the WCO and the use of modem technology. Pakistan Customs has significantly contributed to the progression of the organization on modern lines to ensure belter service delivery to the trade and industry.

Pakistan Customs has transformed its clearance system in line with the international best practices and WCO guidelines. Through Pakistan Single Window platform, trade has been facilitated to interact with multiple regulatory agencies through a single platform for processing their trade related regulatory processes and requirements. These measures have modernized the way of working and have brought much needed transparency, efficiency and confidence of the stakeholders particularly among trade and businesses.

I would also like to reverberate WCO’s focus on inculcating sense of professional pride in the work and service delivery of the organization. The enabling environment built through projects such as WeBOC clearance system. PSW outreach to regulatory agencies, pre-arrival clearances and managing trade through IT applications have successfully created a strong IT based trade processing infrastructure in the country. This has not only reduced the cost of doing business on one hand but has also ensured higher level of trade facilitation.

We acknowledge that Customs modernization interventions have increased the ease of doing business in Pakistan and have reduced the distortions in processing of import and exports across borders. I appreciate the Pakistan Customs’ efforts in leveraging modem technology with a sense of dedication, embedded with the purpose of serving this nation and achieving the goals of revenue collection, trade facilitation and national development.

Finally, I once again congratulate the entire Customs fraternity on the occasion of International Customs Day.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023