Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director for Pakistan Yong Ye has appreciated the efforts of Pakistan Single Window (PSW) and the inclusive approach taken towards the implementation of the Single Window System.
PSW hosted the ADB Country Director for a briefing on the implementation of the Single Window system. Ye was also updated on the Trade Information Portal of Pakistan (TIPP).
Ye suggested that PSW’s success stories should be shared with other countries which are in various phases of the Single Window development and implementation and ADB could play a greater role in facilitating this activity. He said that ADB is committed to supporting this transformational initiative in line with the stated objectives of the Country Partnership Strategy.
Ye further said, “It is encouraging to see the stakeholder’s ownership and commitment to PSW and we would like to deepen our engagement with PSW for improvement of Pakistan’s cross-border trade ecosystem”.
The ADB country partnership strategy, 2021–2025 for Pakistan focuses on three priorities: improving economic management, building resilience, and boosting competitiveness and private sector development. ADB is supporting the development of PSW, which automates and integrates cross-border trade-related government processes under a single digital platform to ease international trade.
Briefing Ye on the progress of the PSW, CEO of PSW Aftab Haider said, “PSW is fulfilling its commitment under the World Trade Organization’s Trade Facilitation Agreement for the rollout of the PSW system by June 2022. The new system began rolling out in July 2021 and more than 44,000 traders are now registered with the system. PSW has also integrated commercial banks on the PSW platform for real-time exchange of financial data with the banks, Pakistan Customs, and the State Bank of Pakistan”.
The ADB delegation was also given a preview of the Trade Information Portal (TIP) that digitizes over 530 laws, regulations, procedures, and other trade-related measures from over 77 government agencies which can now be accessed online. “With the launch of TIPP, PSW hopes that Pakistan’s business community will have a useful tool to find the information necessary to facilitate their import-export activities,” Haider said.
Pakistan Single Window (PSW) is an initiative of the federal government with a focus on transforming the trade and industry ecosystem. The program has benefitted from technical assistance received from various donors including ADB which helped PSW develop the integrated risk management roadmap and provided expert advice on the integration of e-commerce on PSW.
It is also providing support to PSW on the procurement of hardware and software for a dedicated data center and has committed to providing further funding for the smooth implementation of other PSW initiatives.
