Govt looks forward for similar achievements at other institutions: Minister

Director General of Customs Jamal Al- Jalawi speaks during the ceremony

KUWAIT: The General Administration of Customs (GAC) launched a new application to improve control at checkpoints at ports and borders. The launch ceremony of this application was held on Sunday at the customs headquarters in Shuwaikh. "This is a new phase of achievement of GAC. The electronic services provided by GAC improve customs work, and we look forward to similar achievements at other public institutions," said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Anas Al-Saleh.

Director General of Customs Jamal Al-Jalawi said 2018 will be the year of economic and security achievements. "Our strategy is based on attracting suppliers and simplifying their procedures, storing their goods, and easy release of their goods. This will result in increasing customs income without increasing the fees paid by citizens. As more services will be provided, more goods will arrive, so customs income will increase," he noted.

GAC launched a package of new electronic services during the ceremony. "These services will cause a quantum leap in customs work. It includes a new website on the latest international standard that includes all related information and activities, in addition to laws. It will allow individuals and companies to get their customs work done online. Furthermore, we also finished work on the control room, which provides support to all customs centers with inspection, security, customs information and easy communication with field teams and other public authorities," added Jalawi.

The control room will operate 24/7 through monitoring cameras at the land, sea and air customs ports. "This room is one of the main pillars of customs work in Kuwait, which deals quickly with all complaints and calls received in order to maintain the safety of our country," he explained.

More electronic services

'Masdar' is a new application for smartphones that allows fast communication with the public, answering their questions and providing information. In order to protect information, we also launched a disaster recovery center, which will ensure protection of all information and data in case of natural disasters," concluded Jalawi.

Deputy Chairman and CEO of Global Clearing House Systems Tareq Al-Sultan noted that the biggest challenge facing the government and the private sector is how to change the work environment and trade over borders into an attractive component for foreign and local investors. The government has taken many important decisions within the past few months and I believe that their positive results will be seen soon," he pointed out.

"Global Clearing House Systems' future plans focus on improving the performance of work environment and simplifying trade through borders. This is done by depending on the latest technology, which will change logistics work in general in Kuwait to support economic interests," he added.

Talal Al-Eidan from GAC explained the professional and accurate work of the control room. "It is connected to 160 cameras at all ports of Kuwait. All ports are monitored and the system tracks all trucks, ships and airplanes after leaving the port. We cooperate with various authorities including the minister of interior, which we contact immediately if any truck changes its route, for instance. We also have plans to install 65 more cameras at the Nuwaiseeb and Salmi borders," he noted.

By Nawara Fattahova