During Dubai Customs Consultative Council meeting held under the patronage of
Sultan Bin Sulayem in the presence of Ahmed Butti Ahmed.
H.E. Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) stressed that Dubai Customs seeks to introduce more facilitations and simplify the procedures of the business community in Dubai and support the investors in helping them overcome obstacles posed in accordance with the existing laws and regulations.
In the presence of H.E. Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of PCFC, Dubai Customs Director General and President of the Consultative Council and Mr. Yosef Al Sahlawi, Senior Executive Director of Corporate Affairs and Vice President of the Consultative Council, and during his sponsorship of the third quarter meeting of Dubai Customs Consultative Council which was held on Thursday, October 20th, 2011 at Customs headquarters, Bin Sulayem stated that Dubai Customs is not just a customs duty levying Department, it aims in the first place to protect the community and economy from the dangers of counterfeiting, piracy and drugs.
During the meeting where 25 representatives of the business communities were present along with a number of executive directors at Dubai Customs, Bin Sulayem said that Dubai is witnessing a vast and wide movement by investors and businessmen in the meantime. The Emirate of Dubai is blessed with the wise vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai and the young leaders of HH sons who continue to follow the lead in executing the economic direction HH Sheikh Mohammed set.
Bin Sulayem added that the economic situation in Dubai is stable and is recording positive developments which reflected on the huge jump of Dubai’s international trade in the first annual half which reached 24% with 345 billion dirham as compared to 279 billion dirham in the same period last year. He noted that these figures are registered at the time when world economies struggle to survive the financial crises which might storm their future and their peoples’ welfare.
H.E. Ahmed Butti stressed that Dubai Customs is to make further decisions which support the business community in the upcoming period that contribute to attracting more investment into Dubai. He pointed out as well that Dubai Customs Consultative Council plays a major role in reinforcing communication between the Department and the businessmen since established in December 2009, not to mention discussing many topics that interest the business sectors and solve problems they might encounter as well as fostering strategic partnership.
H.E. Ahmed Butti confirmed that the Department will implementing Paperless initiative beginning of next November which aims to transfer nine customs declarations to be processed online without the need to submit hard copies to customer service centers, in the first stage to be added to a number of initiative carried out by Dubai Customs for the business community, the last of which was “ My Smart Reports” that aims at facilitating company CEO’s and helping them take their decisions.
A number of the attendees of business community representatives made suggestions during the meeting on extending the visa period granted to the investors to longer periods and adopting alternative mechanisms for inspecting goods stored by the traders. Bin Sulayem highlighted that long visas mandate a federal decision, as for the current inspection mechanism of the stored goods, which require moving the goods to the customs centers so that they get inspected there instead of the previous procedure of inspecting them in the warehouses, aims to put an end to violations of counterfeiting.
Dubai Customs has assigned a website for the Consultative Council to showcase the prominent achievements. The Consultative Council brings together 24 main sectors in the business community and has contributed much to making numerous decisions related to facilitating business and simplifying procedures; including ERTIBAT initiative which was launched by Dubai Customs earlier this year to vitalize communication and interaction with companies through embassies and consulates of their countries. It also aims to attract new investment opportunities besides the existing ones and deepen the mutual dialogue with the official and semiofficial agencies involved in regulating the relation with the business sectors affiliated to the countries connected to Dubai Customs with trade partnerships and joint investment projects in order to formulate the intermediary role in consolidating mutual relations and achieving mutual interests among all parties in a way that serves the public interest.