SOUTH KOREA: The Korea Customs Service (KCS) commissioner Beek Un-chan told that KCS is in talks with Colombia to export its “one-stop” customs service system as they target to increase its revenue through e-clearance exports.
“We expect to sign a deal with Colombia within this year and Bolivia may be the next country to introduce our customs program,” KCS Commissioner Baek Un-chan told The Korea Times last week at his office in southern Seoul.
The customs office has stepped up its efforts in the past decade to sell the “UNI-PASS” customs system largely to developing markets. It has shipped $101 million worth of the systems to eight developing countries since 2005, according to KCS data.
In the most recent deal, the KCS signed a contract to sell the system to Tanzania for $23.3 million in August 2012. It aims to win $147 million worth of contracts for three years through 2016.
The seven other countries are Ecuador, Mongolia, Guatemala, Nepal, Dominican Republic, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
“We are targeting to enter other markets in Africa and Latin America, starting with Tanzania and Ecuador,” Baek said. “We are also looking to new markets such as Costa Rica, Guatemala, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda and Guinea.”
Currently, Korea is in a tough competition with Japan and other advanced countries to export customs systems to emerging markets. Rivals include Singapore’s Crimson Logic, the United Kingdom’s Crown Agent, Japan’s NACCS and Luxembourg’s Intrasoft.
Japan has strengthened its presence in Asia’s customs systems market by offering a variety of subsidies or writing off debts for debt-ridden countries.
