KARACHI: Pakistan has achieved favourable macroeconomic indicators, but there needs to be more collaboration among government officials, investors, exporters and stakeholders to further strengthen the economy, said Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, at the inauguration of the Faceless Customs Assessment System (Central Appraising Unit) at South Asia Terminals Pakistan (SATP) during his day long visit to the city.
“In order to facilitate this collaboration, a comprehensive integration of the economy through an e-governance system will be implemented,” he added, highlighting positive macroeconomic trends with an 11 percent increase in overall exports and a significant 34 percent rise in Information Technology (IT) exports.
The Prime Minister congratulated the Finance Minister, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Karachi Port, and the Customs department for successfully launching the Faceless Customs Assessment System, praising the young officers of the Customs Department for their dedication and success—an achievement 77 years in the making that is vital for the country’s economic development.
With the implementation of this new system, the time required for processing Goods Declarations has been reduced to 10 minutes, extending to 15 to 20 minutes if multiple items are included in a shipment.
He expressed satisfaction over the reduction of the Bill of Entry (BOE) processing time from 42 hours to 19 hours during the project’s trial phase, asserting that the average BOE time goal of 12 hours would likely be met with ongoing improvements, and said that 88 percent of importers are experiencing a positive sentiment regarding this initiative.
The Prime Minister recommended that Sindh’s Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Governor Kamran Khan Tessori carry out a third-party evaluation of the project with the assistance of IT experts.
He said that the reforms implemented in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) over the past nine months are beginning to yield positive results.
He further stated that Customs officials who demonstrate honesty, dedication, and hard work in generating additional revenue would be eligible for a cash reward of 10 percent of the total recovery, with a formula to be developed for that purpose. He confirmed that the government has met its revenue targets set for this fiscal year as per its agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
