ISLAMABAD: Pakistan celebrates International Customs Day on 26th January, 2019 along with the international community, to acknowledge contributions by global Customs institutions in enabling border security through SMART borders for unhampered transnational movement of goods and people.
The year 2019 is dedicated to the swift and smooth cross-border movement of goods, people and means of transport with the slogan “SMART borders for seamless Trade, Travel and Transport”. Increased globalization and international trade requires enhanced collaborative border management and intelligence sharing between nations both for border security and trade facilitation.
SMART borders aim at creating transparent and predictable conditions for trade, facilitating legitimate business and ensuring the timely delivery of raw materials for industry, thereby contributing to economic growth and job opportunities. This is in line with the federal government’s vision and reform agenda focused on a secure business-friendly environment to promote industry and encourage trade, consequently enhancing revenue.
Pakistan’s commitment to efficient border management for enhanced trade facilitation is evident from our ratification of the WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). The ongoing implementation of CPEC renders the concept of SMART borders for the unhindered movement of goods and people even more important. The Government is fully geared to take necessary steps in this regard: employment of non-intrusive inspection technology; launch of the Customs National Targeting Centre (NTC), and installation of the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) for sharing of advance information.
I, therefore, congratulate Pakistan Customs on its efforts to ensure the security of cross-border movement of goods and people for trade facilitation. I am positive that these efforts shall contribute further to our vision of making Pakistan a prosperous and trade and investment friendly nation.
