MALE: Maldives customs must become a more business friendly entity, President Abdulla Yameen said here the other day.
Speaking during the ceremony held to mark the 125th anniversary of Maldives customs service, President revealed that efforts are now underway to introduce asycuda world to Maldives.
“When you say customs, two things spring to mind. One is a door for revenue. The other is a difficult obstacle for businesses. And I’m not talking about Maldives customs alone. This is the case in almost every part of the world,” president noted.
Highlighting that customs duty had been the biggest source of state revenue, president noted that the introductions of GST had dwindled import duty income.
“We began reducing duty from 2002. Before that a large percentage of revenue was from import duty. If i recall correctly, customs duty contributed almost 15 percent of total revenue,” he explained.
According to the president, when Maldives became a member of World Trading Organization, he as the then trade minister had tried to bring down import duty. In that regard, efforts were made between 2002 and 2012 to slash import duty to meet global standards, he added.
He also stressed on the importance of a strong frontier control system for Maldives customs.
President Yameen said the government is looking to implement the Male port relocation project in the next few years.
“Government is now aiming to relocate the Male port in next year or so. But that doesn’t mean we will shut down the port. The economy needs to adapt in order to fast track cargo unloading and docking services. The current facilities cannot achieve that,” he continued.
