DAMASCUS
Syria's customs department is to undergo a modernisation programme in order to create a more efficient and transparent system.
The programme will focus on increasing the volume of goods and services customs staff will be able to handle. It will achieve this by deploying a nationally integrated system using a computer network for customs clearance work.
"Consequently, all customs procedures will be done with transparency and in a short time,” Abdullah al-Dardari, head of Syria's State Planning Commission, told IRIN during a signing ceremony on Tuesday in the capital, Damascus.
“Most importantly, the project will reduce the cost, and the time of customs clearance, therefore, it will enhance foreign trade and investment in Syria,” al-Dardari added.
The project, which will be implemented over a two-year period, is being carried out in collaboration with the Finance Ministry, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The total cost will be US $8 million of which the Syrian government will pay $7.5 million.
Al-Dardari explained that the project is part of a general trade reform process. Customs reform will be achieved through use of the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) which is currently used in 80 countries.
It is designed for the computerisation and modernisation of customs procedures to facilitate growth in trade by reducing costs, removing non-tariff based barriers and speeding up the system.
The hope is that this will result in increased revenues. As part of the project customs staff will be trained in the use of the ASYCUDA system.
Accurate foreign trade statistics have been difficult to come by in the past but the new system will be able to provide such information. This will help in the development and implementation of a comprehensive foreign trade policy.
UNDP Resident Representative in Damascus, Ali al-Zaatari, told IRIN: “This project aims at enhancing the government’s ability in pursuing institutional reform and modernisations of the public sector to meet development challenges.”
He added that it is an historic project which will ensure high financial returns but pointed out that it is difficult to estimate with any accuracy the size of increase in trade. "But I can give an example; when Yemen applied the ASYCUDA system, customs revenues increased by 65 percent. This makes me optimistic," he said.
The system will also allow Syria to move closer to membership of various international economic organisations.
"We are facing challenges including the joining of the World Trade Organization [WTO], the Arab Free Trade Area Agreement which came into effect on 1 January this year and the Syrian-European Association Agreement," Dr Bassel Sannoufeh, Syrian Customs Director General, told IRIN.
“Syria is the first country to install ASYCUDA in the region. This will facilitate the trade, and modernise all customs activities, prepare Syria to be a key member in the WTO, and enhance the future of the Syrian economy,” Fabrice Millet, the ASYCUDA Program Manager at UNCTAD, told IRIN.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions