Tarin reviews progress on Pakistan Single Window

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Tuesday briefed about the progress, achievements, goals, milestones and challenges under the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) programme.

During the second meeting of the PSW governing council held at the Finance Division and presided over by the adviser, the secretary apprised that Pakistan Customs after detailed working, with the support from the local and international experts, has designed and implemented PSW’s operational, governance, revenue and functional models to ensure efficacy and sustainability.

The governing council was updated on the implementation status of decisions taken in the last meeting.

The secretary said an overarching legal framework is in place to support all the initiatives under PSW. Despite delays in funding from donors and the Covid-induced problems, significant progress has been achieved on the PSW implementation.

The PSW CEO said the first phase of the programme is in the rollout process and will be completed in March 2022. That would enable Pakistan to notify its commitments under the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the WTO.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir and other participating ministries/departments provided the update to the governing council on their preparedness and cooperation in the rollout of the PSW system.

Tarin issued directives and expressed satisfaction on the overall progress made to implement PSW. He lauded the efforts of Pakistan Customs and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), as the lead agency of the PSW programme.

Assuring full support to the deep-rooted reforms being undertaken under the PSW programme, the adviser urged stronger collaboration with both public and private sectors to create ownership and awareness.

He directed the PSW to focus on its outreach activities and allow the private sector to judge the performance of its system.

Successful PSW implementation is a major objective of the present government to promote trade competitiveness through enhanced transparency and efficiency, he added.

Lastly, all the involved ministries and stakeholders agreed on extending their cooperation and full support to make this programme successful.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz, Commerce, Science and Technology secretaries, SBP governor, member Customs, FBR and senior officers from other ministries attended the meeting.