27,000 importers registered with Egypts ACI system since October

ArabFinance: Up to 27,000 importers have since October are registered with the National Single Window for Foreign Trade Facilitation Nafeza, a government online platform that covers 95% of imports and exports of the country, Egypts finance minister Mohamed Maait revealed.

Maait added that 68,000 foreign companies have registered with the Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) system since October, adding that 65,000 custom clearance certifications have been issued.

Nafeza has contributed to saving $400 for every single cargo and helped decline the time of the cargos clearance through submitting the cargos documents to the online platform without a need to the paper documents, which easing the procedures of signing and approving them, Maait explained.

The ACI system, which came into effect as of 1 October 2021, provides public and private trade operators with holistic electronic cargo information prior to the arrival of shipments to the country of importation in order to facilitate processing and clearance.

The system was adopted under Egypts strategy of digital transformation, which is in line with Egypts 2030 Vision and its sustainable development goals agenda.

Maait pointed out that the Egyptian government has spent, so far, about EGP 5 billion to improve and automate the customs system as well as establishing the logistic centers in the customs points, which all have resulted in reducing the customs clearance time and decreasing the related fees with a bout EGP 22,000 for every single container of the cargo.

ACI system has contributed to attaining the exported commodities prices stabilization in the domestic market, Maait commented.