Digitalization of Customs Services. Pathway to Paperless Trade

The conference, held in a hybrid mode, brought together representatives of the customs administrations of Central Asian countries, Georgia, Azerbaijan, South Korea and the EU, representatives of the WCO, USAID, as well as ministries and agencies responsible for developing trade policy, as well as international organizations.

The main objective of the forum is to exchange information on digitalization processes of customs procedures currently taking place in the world and to involve customs administrations and other interested parties in discussing international best practices and developing proposals for the digital transformation of customs administrations of Central Asian countries and their trading systems.

During the forum, Session 1 speakers’ speeches on customs digital reforms, latest innovations and the role of "digital" enforcement were heard. The session on the topic of                                      "Accelerating digitalization for enhanced transit and trade facilitation" was moderated by the Secretary General of TRACECA, Mr. A. Assavbayev.
 
The discussions of the speakers of this session included an exchange of views on the development of recommendations for increasing trade and exports, increasing the use of digital tools and enhancing the transit potential of Central Asian countries.

On the second day of the forum, a Regional working meeting of the National Trade Facilitation Committees of the Central Asia organized jointly with GIZ, was held. The main focus of the discussions was focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of regional cooperation between NTFCs. The participants were given the opportunity to discuss the implementation of trade facilitation measures in the countries of the region with representatives of the private sector.


For reference:

USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results.  
For more information, visit the USAID/Central Asia website https://www.usaid.gov/central-asia-regional and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/USAIDCentralAsia