Dubai Chamber, Dubai Customs Enhance Cooperation to Facilitate Trade

The joint project team of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Dubai Customs working on the Risk Engine, developed by the Customs to assess and organise the Certificates of Origin issued by the Chamber through the system of clearing risk-free transactions, were honoured at a ceremony held at the Chamber headquarters .

The honouring ceremony was attended by H.E. Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber, H.E. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director, Dubai Customs, and a number of directors and managers of the project from both the organisations.

Earlier this year Dubai Chamber and Dubai Customs signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of this project, in line with the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to promote and facilitate the business environment and the happiness of the traders.

In his welcome address at the ceremony, H.E. Buamim said: “Dubai Chamber is starting to implement the system which will create a notable impact, by mitigating the risks of COOs, expediting transactions, reducing risks in business processes, reducing cost and creating a better customer experience in line with the directives of our Government to apply innovative methods to achieve customer happiness.”

He added, “We have witnessed a 2% growth in the number of Certificates of Origin issued in the first four months of this year totalling about 313,000 COOs, while we also succeeded in reducing the customers’ visits by 30% during the same period, which shows that our partnership with Dubai Customs is headed in the right direction.”

H.E. Buamim also emphasised that Dubai Chamber is considered as one of the leading Chambers in the world in terms of the number of Certificates of Origin issued with an average of 2,500 – 3,000 COOs per day. This project will help the Chamber’s strategy of providing quality and excellent services 24/7 to the business community, while enriching the customer experience, and enhancing the status of Dubai as a global hub of easy and streamlined trading, he said.

On his part, H.E. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director, Dubai Customs, lauded the efforts of Dubai Customs and Dubai Chamber for the joint venture which he said has culminated from both the organisations’ desire to strengthen the bonds of constructive cooperation in implementing the emirate’s laws and regulations in line with the vision and directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, which emphasises on integration and teamwork between government departments, in order to facilitate the smooth movement of trade and to ensure world-class services to all stakeholders and to bring happiness to the general public and the business community.

He also said that Dubai Customs believes in enhancing cooperation with its strategic partners both from the public and private sectors and is keen to launch innovative projects and initiatives to support business growth as he praised the efforts of Dubai Chamber in supporting and developing the emirate’s economy through its global strategy of reaching out to the promising markets of the world in order to support the private sector’s growth in the overseas business arenas.

This MoU is set to cement bilateral relations between the two parties via coordination, joint efforts, exchange of expertise and technological resourcefulness. It also aims to make best use of Dubai Customs’ knowledge and expertise by applying the Risk Engine to Dubai Chamber, for the sake of screening data risk and level of accuracy as being submitted by clients onward for the issuance of a ‘COO’. A joint team has been formed comprising the technical and relevant departments within the two entities in order to commence on this new venture.

The 100% in-house developed ‘Risk Engine’ and endogenously made by Dubai Customs’ human capital, is a smart system connected to multiple channels of resources streamlining data on Customs declarations of consignments and individuals as well. The system is managed by Dubai Customs Intelligence Department; responsible for profiling and analysing of such data in order to identify risks and intercept suspected consignments.

The system contributes to the expediting of clearing risk-free transactions, which in return gives Dubai Customs the luxury of catering eased and efficient services to its clients, facilitating legitimate trade and deterring potential illicit trade practices.