Tanzania eyes becoming a regional trade hub in East Africa with capacity-building aid from leading global customs experts in Dubai under UNDP supervision
Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) hosted an international delegation, co-headed by Dubai Customs World (CW) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with an objective to achieve Tanzania’s goal of becoming a regional hub for trade in East Africa and come together to eliminate smuggling.
The official visiting delegation, co-headed by Faisal Eissa Lutfi, CEO of DCW, and UNDP Global Adviser Paul Harrison; met the Commissioner General, Alphayo J. Kidata, and high-profile officials from Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), including Mary Maganga, Director of Research, Policy and Planning; Said Athuman, Deputy Commissioner for Customs and Excise; alongside a host of other officers.
The move is in line with CW’s vision of global best practise sharing in the effort to facilitate international trade while securing sovereign borders by strengthening close cooperation with friendly nations.
Discussions during the meeting centered around the proposal of the TRA partnering with the UNDP and CW to participate on a Port of Excellence project financed by the Global Environment Facility, which aims to assist in state of the art capacity building in East Africa. In the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was proposed, that would essentially elevate the overall capacity and efficiency of the TRA to world-leading international standard with a unified vision to achieve Tanzania’s goal to become the region’s leading trade hub.
Tanzania Revenue Authority Commissioner General, Alphayo J. Kidata, said: “TRA is looking forward to extend cooperation and mutual assistance through strengthening, promoting and developing cooperation with Dubai Customs World. The MOU discussions specifically focused on the following areas:
Exchange on customs information especially on export declarations to Tanzania which will allow customs officers to detect false declarations particular with regard to Customs value; establishing and maintaining channels of communication to facilitate the secure and rapid exchange of information.
Strengthen Risk Management system with regard to risk analysis identification and targeting, in order to enable TRA customs effectively focusing their inspection activities on high risk transactions and to facilitate the clearance and movement of legitimate trade.
On capacity building, from the exchange of professional, scientific and technical data relating to Customs law and procedures whereby the use of information technology especially endeavor to assist TRA to secure and operate state of the art mobile scanners. Furthermore, TRA is looking forward to host Dubai Customs World experts who will conduct a comprehensive gap analysis in respect of the existing model of Customs operations of the Government of Tanzania, for the purpose of setting an objective for reform and development in line with the Key Performance Indicators pre-established by the Parties and ensuring all terms of the MoU are addressed accordingly.”
Reform and Development of Customs Systems
CW aims to develop a tailored capacity-building program, with the aim to improve customs clearance capacity and training to build staff skills in wildlife law enforcement. Using cutting-edge technology, this shall increase the efficiency of customs clearance processes by drastically reducing clearance time, while targeting screening of high-risk containers and improved detection techniques.
The terms of agreement shall also include installation of a paperless container processing system, as well as a world-leading fully-automated risk analysis engine. These actions should lead to lower operational costs, a higher rate of seizures and increased trade resulting from enhanced port operations. In combination, they offer the potential of significantly increased customs revenue.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World Group chairman and CEO & chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, commented: “We are excited to contribute to Tanzania’s genuine efforts to become a leading trading hub in East Africa, and help build its Customs capacity to clampdown on smuggling and global illicit trade. This follows the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to export Dubai’s home-grown, first-rate experience to those friendly countries that seek to boost their economic and commercial performance.”
View News Headlines
