Dubai Customs processes 4.5 million transactions in first half of 2017

DUBAI, 3rd August, 2017 (WAM) -- Dubai Customs has processed 4.5 million transactions in the first half of 2017, compared to 4.3 million transactions during the same period last year, posting a growth rate of 4.5 percent. Dubai’s stature as a global trade hub and its sophisticated customs and border services have led to the increase in the number of transactions handled by Dubai Customs, said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World Group Chairman and CEO and Chairman of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, PCFC. "The positive growth in the number of transactions came despite the general slowdown of world trade, which is definitely a strong sign of Dubai’s resilient and healthy economy," he added. The figures from Dubai Customs show that its "Submit Customs Declaration" service had the largest share of the total transactions at 80.6 percent, with 3.6 million processed transactions. The "Submit Claim" service accounted for 458,000 transactions at 10.2 percent while the "Book Inspection Appointment" service contributed 139,000 transactions at 3.11 percent, and the "Register Business" service had 53,400 transactions at 1.1 percent. Its transactions covered 19 main services that are provided through 23 inland, sea and air customs centres across Dubai. These services are available to its customers through six major channels, including Dubai Trade and the B2G electronic channel, as well as the Dubai Customs website and its mobile applications. Sultan bin Sulayem pointed out that the PCFC has greatly contributed to positioning the UAE at the top of global competitiveness rankings, in terms of the efficiency of its customs authorities and trade facilitation indices. "While speeding up the delivery of customs services and easing the flow of legitimate trade, Dubai Customs was able to process 9 million transactions annually. If we add this figure to the number of transactions delivered by other PCFC entities, the overall total would reach up to 18 million transactions per year, or 1.5 million transactions per month, or 50,000 transactions per day. We could not have handled such a huge sum of transactions if we had not invested in service innovation, technology and smart transformations, to double our efficiency in all aspects of the trade supply chain," bin Sulayem said. "Our objective is to continue developing trade and customs services through qualitative initiatives that will ensure that Dubai is 10 years ahead of the world, in line with its ambitious 10X Vision," he added. Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, said, "The growth achieved in the number of customs transactions is the fruit of our commitment to provide first-class facilities to traders, to attract more trade and business to Dubai. We are keen to develop our capacities in terms of human capital, inspection and scanning technologies, as well as clearance processes and systems while adopting global best practices and standards, to step up our readiness for the coming Expo 2020 and realise the UAE Vision 2021."