H.E. Sultan Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) called for further enhancement of the communication channels with the official personnel of the diplomatic missions and the business sectors of countries that enjoy economic and strategic relations with Dubai through programs and initiatives such as ERTIBAT initiative which was recently launched by Dubai Customs.
During his latest meeting with Dubai Customs managers and directors, and in the presence of H.E. Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of PCFC and Dubai Customs Director General, Bin Sulayem reinstated the significance of furthering electronic government integration with all the government departments in Dubai.
He said that E-excellence is not confined to fixed software and programs owned by other companies, it also includes exceling at creating and developing in-house programs. He highlighted the major achievement Dubai Customs made in this field being able to accomplish numerous projects in this direction especially the most renowned Customs E-Clearance System, Mirsal2 which was internally designed as best worldwide practice in the customs E-clearance domain.
During the meeting, Bin Sulayem learnt about the business process at Dubai Customs and the taken procedures to confront all the challenges encountered by the managers at the customs locations. He viewed the achievements made in the numerous projects especially Dubai Creek and Coastal Berth Project which included constructing a berth for ships and enlarging the capacity to keep pace with the growing numbers in line with the necessity of introducing the required facilitations to the traders.
Bin Sulayem stressed the need to fulfill the needs of the rapid growth in the economic movement witnessed in Dubai and represented in the increase of the international direct trade rate which reached 24% by the end of the first annual half of 2010. He urged as well to meet all the necessary requirements to support the IT projects and the reform and modernization processes taking place at Dubai Customs and maintain the inspection and checkup machines.
After the meeting, Bin Sulayem paid a visit to Dubai Airport where he got acquainted with the reports and statistics related to the performance of Airport Operations Department. He commended the collective efforts made by all inspectors of both genders. He expressed his satisfaction towards the achievements made in this field in terms of qualifying the inspection cadre or the upgrading of machines and equipment. Bin Sulayem demanded further facilitations to passengers’ procedures and timely completion of their transactions.
Bin Sulayem toured the training hall provided for the inspection cadre at Dubai Airport which is the first of its kind in the region comprising a micro-exhibition which showcases smuggling methods and techniques and displays training and educational aid that explain the different types of narcotics and drugs, planting and dealing areas and the harmful damages they cause to health, economy and society as a result of their consumption and smuggling.
Furthermore, Bin Sulayem listened to an explanation on the Passenger Charter and the Passenger Customs Procedures Manual distributed to the passengers in order to increase their knowledge about the rights and responsibilities.