Africa-Press – Eswatini. In a bid to enhance the ease of doing business, government has launched an online platform which will allow businesses to report trade obstacles they may face when doing cross border trade.
The Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism (TOAM) was launched yesterday by the Ministry of commerce industry and trade, international trade centre (ITC) and the European Union (EU) at the Sibane Sami Hotel.
The main objective of the innovative project is to identify and eliminate trade barriers or obstacles, and hence improve the business environment in the country.
This will include both trade in goods and trade in services.
According to ITC Market Analyst, Vianney Lesaffre, since 2014, the mechanism has been developed and piloted in already 19 countries of Africa.
It consists an online platform where the business community can report obstacles which they encounter during their trading activities. He said the reported obstacles are then channelled to the relevant government agencies including customs, the different ministries and many others to provide solutions where required.
mechanism
He said the mechanism would be sustained through an inter-agency committee that would be set up by the ministry to make sure companies’ complaints will get an appropriate and timely answer.
Vianney said the committee would be formalised in the coming weeks with the signature of an inter-agency protocol, which illustrates the good collaboration of all agencies involved in trade rules and procedures.
He also said the ministry of commerce, industry and trade, International Trade Department as National Focal Point, and the operational focal point to guarantee the correct transmission of information between public and private actors within this mechanism.
“We hope that this new mechanism will help us address business obstacles and contribute to a more conducive business environment in the country.
It is to note that the mechanism will cover both trade in goods as trade in services,” Lesaffre said.
He said ITC work on the African Trade Observatory, a platform dedicated to showing the intra-african trade exchanges in real time, find potential markets for African products in the continent, and continue this effort of transparency in trade data for the benefit of African SMEs. I am today particularly happy to be in Mbabane, Eswatini where our work on the ATO with the International Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, industry and trade, well represented here, is well under way,” he said.
He added that in the context of the African Trade Observatory, the TOAM will first be applied to trade in services, giving the government and the parties involved a way to fully gather the spectrum of challenges and difficulties of service providers working with foreign clients, at this moment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“At TMI, we have processed business surveys by interviewing around 10 000 SMEs in Africa, in 22 countries, in our effort of gathering the experience of African SMEs on difficulties to do trans-border trade,” he said.
Vianney said this had given them a particular knowledge on the reality of the traders, at the important moment of the AfCFTA.
worked
“We have also worked on identifying particularly innovative and potential value chains that we call ‘Made by Africa’, such as automobiles, pharmaceutical products, garments and clothes, and infant food. Together with our donors and international partners, ITC will continue working with the Government of Eswatini in this context,” he said.
Platform to allow speedy interactions between business, policy makers
The launch of the TOAM will allow for easy and speedy interaction between policy makers and the industry, with the view of resolving issues, which are deemed detrimental to trade facilitation.
This was said by the acting Director of the International Trade Department Khetsiwe Dlamini, who said the day marked another very important step for government in the implementation of its digitalisation strategy.
Dlamini said the adoption of this technology was the way forward, as it served as a platform for the business community to provide feedback on perceived trade obstacles and the clearance of goods at the borders. “Furthermore, the platform will expedite the exchange of information between economic operators and relevant agencies.
line
“This is in line with the government’s ambition to enhance trade facilitation, promote inter-agency dialogue, and improve public-private sector discussions, through further digitalisation,” she said.
Dlamini said they were grateful for the benefits that Eswatini would realise through the use of TOAM, especially as it would provide government with timely updates on issues being faced by the industry.
“It is through this mechanism that companies will remain up to date with information on trade rules and procedure,” she said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Eswatini looks forward to the successful operation of TO AM in facilitating the identification and elimination of trade and non-trade barriers to improve the business environment in Eswatini,” she said.
Dlamini appealed to all stakeholders to make use of this online platform, be it government entities or the private sector, because the platform can only become successful and efficient, with their active participation.
“Equally important, we all have one objective; to transform our country into an attractive trade destination, thus enabling your business to grow and thrive. Let us make good use of this digital platform,” she said.
Business Eswatini Chief Executive Officer E.Nathi Dlamini said as the private sector, they welcomed any mechanisms that allowed expedient reporting of any trade barriers.
encounter
“We urge businesses to use this platform whenever they encounter trade barriers both inside and outside the country.
Business Eswatini, as part of the National Trade Facilitation Committee, commits to follow up on seeing any reported matters are resolved through the appropriate structures,” he said.
For More News And Analysis About Eswatini Follow Africa-Press
