SL maintains single portal facilitating cross -border trading
With the intention of creating a more business-friendly environment for importers and exporters, Sri Lanka is now implementing a new trade portal providing the requisite information for the advancement of Sri Lanka’s current global trade on to the next level.
The Sri Lanka Trade Portal, a one-stop shop has been established by the Finance Ministry to facilitate trade with Sri Lanka providing the requisite information for the traders who wish to carry out import and export business in Sri Lanka.
It aims to change the country’s business environment with access to the right information at the right time enabling local businesses to confidently venture into international markets and help Sri Lanka’s economy, Finance Ministry sources revealed.
Information related to commodities subject to regulatory controls in import and export along with the information about all the Ministries involved in regulating the import/export process are explained in detail in the Sri Lanka Trade Portal (website), these sources disclosed.
The laws and regulations related to regulatory requirements are also provided in the website and it is a central contact point for all the stakeholders and the state agencies involved in import and export trade.
Developers of the site intend to launch discussion forums to provide a platform to discuss and agree on the roadmap for the implementation of a National Single Window in Sri Lanka, a senior Finance Ministry official said.
The World Bank evaluated the country’s performance in critical rankings like doing business, the ease of trading across borders logistics performance index as one of the benchmarks for the local trade portal.
Sri Lanka’s average trade transaction involves 34 different parties with different objectives, incentives, competence and constituencies, and up to 200 data elements, many of which are repeated multiple times, the World Bank said.
All those 34 agencies involved in publishing trade-related information begin to cooperate more effectively following the launch of the website.
The Trade Portal will bring all the procedures that traders need to comply with to import or export, onto one website.
The National Single Window will also be established to have one transaction point between the trade community, the private sector and the Government.
The World Bank has developed a blue print with the Government providing operational guidelines for the trade window.
It allows all stakeholders in trade and transport to lodge standardised information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfill all import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements.
The proper management of goods passing through borders is critical for trade facilitation as it eliminates avoidable delays and enhances predictability in border clearance.
The Single Window will facilitate and streamline border clearance procedures by providing an electronic platform for traders to submit all trade-related documentation to all government agencies and receive the necessary authorisations through a single and convenient online channel.
At the present time, many of the trade-related processes remain manual and paper-based, with significant duplication of documentation required by different agencies.
Systems automation and the use of IT in import and export processes will lead to reductions in paperwork and reduce trade transaction costs significantly, official said.
The project activities have been already commenced and the PM Group, the company hired by the World Bank to undertake this project, will complete the task soon, he added.