IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Malaysia's advanced trade facilitation and e-government initiatives will enable it to benefit from increased external trade, says Hideo Saito, head of a delegation from Jastpro or the Japan Association for Simplification of International Trade Procedures. Saito, who attended a briefing by Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd (DNT) recently, said,"We are pleasantly surprised to find that the level of implementation in Malaysia is on par with, if not better than, other countries we have visited so far such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and the United States."

He also praised Malaysia for putting in place various advanced systems that used the internationally-recognised and United Nations-endorsed UNEDIFACT standard for electronic messages and this could encourage more Japanese companies to look towards this country for trade.

Malaysia ranks eighth in terms of exports to Japan and is the ninth largest importer of Japanese goods based on the 1999 trade statistics.

DNT had worked closely with Japan on the Trade Electronic Data Interchange (TEDI) project, said DNT chief executive Hazree Mohd Turee.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) initiated TEDI to create a framework for systems using electronic data to replace paper trade documents.

Currently, Malaysia's Customs Department is working closely with DNT to expand the electronic Customs declaration submission system known as Sistem-Maklumat Kastam (SMK)-Dagang.Net.

SMK-Dagang.Net was rolled out in 1994 and currently handles about 150,000 electronic messages daily as it is being used at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Senai International Airport, Pasir Gudang Port and Tanjung Kupang (Linkedua). This is expected to rise to 500,000 when the system is implemented at the Johor Causeway at Tanjung Puteri soon.

Besides the submission of Customs declaration electronically, DNT has also implemented the world's first commercially electronic funds transfer (EFT) system for payment of Customs duties and several other e-government systems.

Quelle: Bernama