The Finance Ministry is looking forward to adopting suggestions aiming to expedite the release of imported goods as soon as they arrive at the port, said Finance Minister Mohamed Maait.

This will contribute effectively to reducing the cost of the export and import process and in turn reducing the cost of goods and services, facilitating the movement of domestic and foreign trade and stimulate investment, he added during his meeting with Head of the Manpower Committee in the House of Representatives Adel Abdel-Fadil along with a host of customs brokers.

The minister further noted that a time release study, which has recently conducted in cooperation with the World Bank, proved the success in reducing the overall average time of customs clearance at seaports by about 50 percent after applying the “Single-Window” system that connects all ports to a unified digitial platform.

The ministry seeks to facilitate procedures and apply basic rules for trade and investment, he affirmed.

As many as EGP 5 billion was allocated to develop the customs system, establish logistics centers and provide the necessary preparations for operation at customs ports, he said.

The Egyptian customs has also introduced the Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) system at ports, the finance minister noted, adding it is a new electronic system for the pre-registration of shipment information.

Source: State Information Service Egypt