Africa-Press – Eswatini. ERS Commissioner General Brightwell Nkambule added that the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) appointed Business Eswatini (BE) to be the lead agency for the programme.
“I am hopeful that these fruitful three days will leave us with positive energy to restructure the programme into a single AEO programme. I therefore challenge all of us in this session to prepare for the new journey with business and all the partner agencies,” he added. BE CEO Nathi Dlamini added that with AEO in place, there was a need for Lavumisa Border Gate to operate 24 hours a day to maximise efficiency. He said they have a Tax Confession Window (TCW) at BE, which is a platform that enables businesses to address their tax related concerns before engaging ERS.
Aim
He said this has assisted over 50 companies locally, and they aim to increase the number this financial year. Dlamini added that the AEO programme was beneficial for local businesses; he said it would cut the cost of doing business, especially trade, and it would further increase tax revenues. “This programme will promote efficiency in terms of service delivery for exports and imports, and we request ERS run it immediately,” he said. The Federation of Eswatini Business Community (FESBC) assured that four companies will be AEO accredited by June this year.
This was mentioned by FESBC Hhohho Chairperson Johannes Manikela, who emphasised the need to benchmark with other SACU companies that have been accredited. He said it was important for local businesses, especially micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), to be affiliated with either the FESBC or BE, as they have relations with the ERS and knowledge in management.
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