Currently, it can take up to four weeks in T&T to register a business, up to four weeks to process Customs import documents and as much as eight weeks to apply for such fiscal as Customs duties and value added tax (VAT). Under phase one of the Single Electronic Window (SEW) programme, which will be operational from November 2010, the time it takes to process documents for these services will be considerably reduced. Randall Karim, director, policy and strategy, Ministry of Trade and Industry, said setting up phase one of SEW is costing the Government US$15 million.
He gave the example of how the SEW would allow for businesses to be registered in mere days.
"Right now, that process is not as efficient as it should be. There is going to be the company's registration module under the SEW. If you want to register a company, you go to the portal and you would be able to register your company online," said Karim, in an interview last Monday at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Nicholas Tower, Port-of-Spain. To import goods into T&T, an importer needs about eight to 10 documents, including a C82 declaration, a bill of lading, a commercial invoice, a Caricom invoice and an import permit. "The TradeNet system will require you to apply using one document. Now you will not have to fill out eight different forms, just the single administrative document. The system then routes the relevant data fields to the different agencies. It cuts the number of steps."
Reduced processing time
Karim said the SEW will reduce the processing of Customs documents to days.
"It takes between three to four weeks to process Customs documentation. Of course, it depends on what the type of good is and so on. What this will do is to bring down that standard to a couple days. The processing of documents by different government agencies will not involve sequential flow of documents. "Part of the delays in T&T in processing documents is end users filling out the wrong information and making mistakes. This system is intelligent enough to ensure that when the document is submitted, the correct information is on the form," he said. Right now, there are eight government departments involved in the SEW, Karim said.
These include the Ministry of Trade and its departments: the Trade Licence Unit, the T&T Bureau of Standards (TTBS), the Business Development Company (BDC) and the Pt Lisas port. The others which fall outside of the Ministry of Trade are Port of Port-of-Spain and the Ministry of Legal Affairs. Karim said the SEW is far reaching in its goals and it is more than just a system for trade. "The SEW is not only about trade; it is about business facilitation. Trade is a big part of business facilitation. What we have done is look at the continuum of business activity in T&T. For example, registering a company, bringing in workers, applying for import duty concessions, fiscal incentives and so." The implementation of phase two of the SEW will start in October 2011 and will be called the port community model. Karim said one of the major initiatives of phase two will be ensuring there is greater communication between the two ports in T&T. "If you want T&T to become a major place for transshipment, you need a port community model to connect the two ports in T&T," he said.
Reducing corruption
Karim said the SEW will be instrumental in reducing "human discretion" in the way operations are conducted. "The introduction of the SEW is also meant to treat with that problem (of corruption). It is meant to reduce the discretionary powers of different agents involved in trade and business facilitation."
He said under the present inefficient system, there is room for human discretion. "Right now, discretion is allowed to creep in in the way forms are treated or applications. That's why people ask employees to process forms faster for them. Once that happens, then there is discretion involved. When the system is run efficiently, then it reduces the need for an incentive to be given to process cargo or whatever." All the business rules of the different agencies will be online, Karim said. "There will be codification in a very transparent manner. Right now the opportunity exists for different persons to have discretion because it is not transparent in how it operates. "The SEW system has a number of in-built audits in the system. So the administrator of the system will be able to see all the users, who is approving what and when and under what circumstance. So the different users of the system can't tamper with that."
RIGHT: Naveen Bhat programme manager, CrimsonLogic
Introducing TradeNet
International experience
CrimsonLogic is the company from Singapore which the Government has contracted to set up and maintain the SEW in T&T.
CrimsonLogic is partly owned by the Port of Singapore and during the late 1980s, created the TradeNet system, which brings together the functions and requirements of more than 30 controlling agencies of both government and private sector in Singapore. Since then it has exported its system to other countries and today is implementing a version of its TradeNet system in T&T. Naveen Bhat, programme manager, CrimsonLogic, said the TradeNet system co-ordinates all the relevant agencies involved. "This TradeNet is a system that links up with different government agencies in Singapore. For any imports and exports that come into the country or go out of the country, they have to go through this TradeNet system.
"Any goods that come into the country, a permit has to be obtained, so this system automates the whole process. Importing a commodity does not involve one or two agencies; it involves many agencies. It does not replace agencies; it simply shares information." Bhat said CrimsonLogic has been successful in setting up versions of TradeNet in many countries. "We have exported this model into other countries. Some of these countries include Mauritius, Ghana, Saudi Arabia and the Panama Canal." Bhat gave the example of Ghana, where the system is so successful, it has reduced the trade process for clearance from a few weeks to a few hours.
Changing behaviour
Bhat believes one of the main challenges in setting up the system is changing the way people behave and think in T&T. He said implementing technical aspects are much easier to do. "Technical aspects are easier to handle. There are certain unique challenges to set the system up in different countries. Maybe the legislation is different or the agencies involved are different, but those are easier challenges to deal with." There needs to be a change in the way people think, Bhat said. "Changing the way people behave and do things is the main challenge. Right now they are doing every thing manual, but if you want them to do things automated, you need to have a comprehensive mindset change. They need to be trained," he said. This type of implementation would not be easy in T&T, Bhat said. "I would not say it would be difficult. I would definitely say it is challenging because when we visited the ministries, some of them are very advanced in information technology, but others, there are no computers at all," Bhat said.
Singapore harbour: Thousands of ships drop anchor in the harbour, connecting the port to more than 600 other ports in 123 countries and spread over six continents.
The Port of Singapore
The Port of Singapore refers to the collective facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade handling functions in Singapore's harbours and which handle Singapore's shipping.
Currently the world's busiest port in terms of total shipping tonnage, it also transships a fifth of the world's shipping containers as the world's busiest container port, half of the world's annual supply of crude oil, and is the world's busiest transshipment port. It was also the busiest port in terms of total cargo tonnage handled until 2005, when it was surpassed by the Port of Shanghai. Thousands of ships drop anchor in the harbour, connecting the port to more than 600 other ports in 123 countries and spread over six continents.
The Port of Singapore is not a mere economic boon, but an economic necessity due to the fact that Singapore is lacking in land and natural resources. The port is critical for importing natural resources, and then later re-exporting them after they have been refined and shaped in some manner, for example, wafer fabrication or oil refining to generate revenue. Only then can the service industries such as hospitality services typical of a port of call, for example, restocking a ship's food and water supplies, take their role. The Straits of Johor are currently impassable to any ship as the Johor-Singapore Causeway links Singapore to Malaysia.