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Director General of Dubai Customs Ahmed Mahboob Musabih gave a presentation in front of a South African delegation headed by the Consul General, His Excellency Mogobo David Magabe about customs facilities and services delivered by Dubai Customs to investors and businesses.

Musabih also talked about the different initiatives dedicated to support the business sector confirming Dubai Customs willingness and preparedness to support foreign businesses as part of its vision in supporting legitimate trade.
“Trade between the UAE and South Africa made AED 14.1 billion in 2018, and there are 8 daily scheduled flights for Emirates Airlines that connect the UAE to South Africa”. 

“Dubai is hosting the 5th WCO GLOBAL AEO CONFERENCE from 10-12 March 2019, which will be held in cooperation with the World Customs Organization and the UAE Federal Customs Authority,” said Musabih “More than 1,000 customs, cargo, IT and logistics specialists and executives will take part in this grand event.
Strengthening bilateral ties with friendly states comes in fulfilment of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. To this end we listen to our partners and clients and go above and beyond to meet and, even, exceed their expectations.”

The meeting was attended by Abdullah Mohammed Al Khaja, Executive Director of Customer Management Division, Juma Al Ghaith, Executive Director of Customs Development Division at Dubai Customs, Farid Hassan Al Marzouqi, Executive Director, Human Resources, Finance and Administration Division and a number of directors and heads of departments, as well as 17 representatives of South African companies in Dubai. South African delegation’s visit to Dubai Customs is part of Ertebaat initiative, which was launched by Dubai Customs to enhance ties with the diplomatic missions and foreign businesses.

In his opening speech, Director General of Dubai Customs talked about the leading customs services and facilities provided by Dubai Customs including the “Virtual Stock Guarantee” initiative. The new facility was developed by Dubai Customs to support re-export activity from free zones to external markets within Dubai Customs’ efforts to help Dubai maintain a leading position and turn into a world economic capital. This initiative is the first of its kind in the world.
More than 18,000 companies based in 24 free zones and 37 customs warehouses can benefit from the Virtual Stock Guarantee facility, in addition to customs warehouse companies willing to use it to re-export their goods solely through Dubai’s air and sea ports, and the UAE land exits.

The Creek Vessel Berth Management is also a new service that manages the operations at Dubai Creek. It includes Vessel registration and management, coastal manifest and declaration management, berth management and inspection.
Other projects include the smart I Declare app which helps passengers securely submit declarations on the go. The app bypasses the current traditional paper forms, providing a quick and secure way to transfer information to the passengers on customs rules and regulations and will help passengers to cut down on waiting time in line from 25 minutes to less than five minutes.
Work is also in progress on regulating the e-commerce project and providing customs framework to it. Incessant developing and updating of customs procedures and services was one of the factors why Dubai Customs topped the Happiness Meter with 98%.

On his part, South African Consul General, His Excellency Mogobo David Magabe said Dubai enjoys a very strategic location between the east and west.
” Dubai has become one of the world's most preferred expatriate locations. We view it as a future investment gate and will spare no effort to enhance our investments here,” said Magabe. “I urge South African companies to invest in Dubai and would like to thank Dubai Customs for their important role in developing and facilitating trade between Dubai and South Africa.”
In his presentation, Ahmed Abdul Salam Kazim, Director of Strategy and Corporate Excellence said trade with South Africa rose 21.5% to AED 12.4 billion in 2018 compared to AED 10.2 billion in 2017.

Trade between Dubai and South Africa made AED 3.2 billion in Q1 2019, in which the share of imports was AED 2.3 billion, the imports were AED 210 million and the re-exports were AED 683 million. Diamonds, gold, petroleum products, printing equipment and vehicles topped the list of commodities between the two sides.
Eman Badr Al Suwaidi, Director of Customs Declaration Department, who is in charge of the implementation of the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) program, said the AEO program applies modern and advanced procedures in compliance with the WTO requirements.

“The AEO program will help member companies with a better access to world markets,” said Al Suwaidi. “We have expectations that customs declarations done through the AEO make 50% of the total number of declarations by 2020. This is especially important for us ahead of EXPO 2020.” 

Nemanand Bobade, Project Manager, gave a presentation on e-commerce and the efforts of Dubai Customs to facilitate this sector in cooperation with the active parties in the field.

“There are leading online trade companies that are based in Dubai including Ali Baba, Amazon, Awok and Noon. The world’s online trade made AED 2.3 trillion in 2017 and is expected to reach AED 4 trillion in 2020. MENA’s share of this trade was AED 5.3 billion 2017 and is expected to spike up to AED 20 billion in 2020. The UAE is active in online trade which reached AED 2.3 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach AED 7.5 billion in 2020” He said.
At the end of the meeting, Edris Behzad, Director of Client Happiness Department invited South African businesses to communicate through Ertebaat and submit any suggestions or concerns they might have about trade and customs services.