Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremanteng has espoused on the importance of the end-to-end single window Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) deployed at the nation’s land and sea borders.
According to the Trade Minister, the deployment of the trade facilitation system at the nation’s point of entries will be of immense strategic importance to the country, especially during the soon-to-be-implemented African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Speaking at a forum organised by the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) sector of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority at the Terminal 3, the Minister noted that if Ghana wants to become an investment destination of choice on the continent, it then nees a trade facilitation system that is attractive and supportive of doing business.
If we (Ghana) want to become an investment destination of choice in West Africa and even on the entire continent, then we need to have a trade facilitation system that is attractive and supportive of doing business
Trade Minister
Mr Kyeremanteng further touting the importance of ICUMS to the country, intimated that Ghana could now be considered as the commercial capital of the continent with the introduction of the new trade facilitation system.
With the introduction of the AfCFTA, any country that wants to become the commercial capital of Africa must have a system of facilitating and managing trade that can be benchmarked with the best practices around the world and ICUMS has that and so Ghana can be legitimately be considered as the commercial capital of Africa, and so ICUMS is of strategic importance to the country
Trade Minister
Concluding his address to stakeholders present, Mr Kyeremanteng expressed satisfaction over the resolution of some teething challenges that confronted the new system in its initial stages of implementation.
Today, I am happy that despite the challenges the system encountered in the early stages of its implementation, all those challenges have been resolved and we are now doing very well in terms of revenue generation and this is perhaps the first time we are seeing such superlative performance from our Customs Division, and I commend the Sector Commander for such excellent performance
Trade Minister
