Dubai Customs discusses  trade cooperation with Uzbek delegation

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs, CEO of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation received an Uzbekistani delegation headed by Akmalkhuja Mavlonov, Chairperson of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Abdulaziz Urolboevich Akkulov – Uzbekistani Ambassador to the UAE.

The delegation included a number of senior Uzbek officials in customs, transport, trade, and investment sectors. A number of executive directors and heads of departments at Dubai Customs attended the meeting.

Musabih highlighted the strong ties between the UAE and Uzbekistan and Dubai customs’ efforts to enhance means of cooperation with the Uzbekistani partners.

“We work hard to enhance our relations with customs organizations in friendly states to help grow mutual trade and exchange knowledge and expertise,” said Musabih. “It is also an opportunity to introduce our great progress in trade and customs services, which enabled us to consolidate the emirate’s leading position as a regional and international hub for world trade. We look forward to more cooperation with our friends in Uzbekistan to consolidate mutual trade following the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.”

Musabih added that such meetings help Dubai Customs learn about other partners’ requirements and suggestions to develop mutual trade pointing out that Dubai Customs introduces outstanding services to its clients.

Dubai Customs has succeeded in achieving great progress in this field by enabling customers to benefit from the Authorized Economic Operator, which provides excellent facilities for member countries of the program, and enable traders and companies to overcome the current challenges in the international trade environment.

The Customs Inspection Division delivered a presentation on Siyaj Unit, which Dubai Customs launched to monitor the customs ports in the emirate more efficiently relying on the latest AI technologies and highly trained inspectors.

The delegation of Uzbekistan customs made a field tour at Jebel Ali Customs Center and they were briefed about the mechanism of work in the center and the role of the advanced system for inspecting containers in Jebel Ali in protecting society and facilitating trade movement. The center has a capacity of scanning 900 containers per hour. The delegation also visited Dubai International Airport and they were briefed about the facilities offered by the Passenger Operations Department to visitors and tourists using smart systems and innovations.

The Uzbekistani delegation also visited the control room at Dubai Customs and they were briefed on the smart system for tracking movement in customs centers by cameras. It also visited the training center and learnt about the efforts of the human resources division in developing the capacities of customs employees through training courses. The delegation members also conducted a field experience of the VR training system that provides inspectors practical training.

During the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to enhance cooperation between Dubai World Trade and Uzbek Customs. HE Mavlunov Akmalkuja Yusupovich - Chairman of the Government Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Mahmood Al Bastaki, Chief Operating Officer, Dubai Trade World, signed the MoU.

Members of Dubai Customs’ senior management team took part in the meeting, which included Juma Al Ghaith, Executive Director of Customs Development Division, Mansoor Al Malik, executive director for policies and legislation Division, Mohammed Al Ghaffari, Executive Director, Human Resources, Finance and Administration Division, Yousef Al-Hashmi, Acting CEO, Customer Management Division and Ibrahim Kamali, Director of Passenger Operations Department.  

Dubai Customs announced recently that it has handled 285,000 deposit refund requests in Q1 2022 growing 20 percent from 238,000 requests in the same period in 2021.

The value of refund requests grew 45 percent in Q1 2022 to Dhs2 billion compared to the corresponding period last year. The Smart Deposit Refund system provides a smooth and outstanding experience to clients. The in-house developed system enables clients to request refunds round the clock, saving time and effort and reducing costs for companies.

There are 18,000 deposit requests with Dhs130 million of transferred customs fees in Q1 completed through the Gulf state public electronic clearing system. The online customs fees transfer system is an essential technical tool for reducing the time needed to transfer customs fees, thus boosting cooperation between Gulf customs administrations.

Separately a day earlier, the customs training centre at Dubai Customs has launched the ‘Training Doses’ initiative, which aims to raise the efficiency of inspection in line with the best international practices.