The Chamber of Young Lankan Entrepreneurs (COYLE) met the Director General of Customs Chulananda Perera recently when they invited him for a discussion at the Hilton Colombo.
The meeting centered around the impediments to free flow of goods to and from Sri Lanka and explored the ways to enhance customs cooperation with the aim to boost the import and export businesses of the country.
The welcome address made by the Chairman of COYLE Kasun Rajapaksa, while thanking the Director General for his presence, invited him to share the new developments that are being crafted within the department with a view to ease customs regulations and making implementation of these regulations transparent.
In the Director General’s address, he expressed his confidence that the preparation of the formulation of a new Custom’s vision for the forthcoming year would ease the transactional aspect for both import and export sectors. He added that customs cooperation in keeping with opening up of liberal trade agreements, particularly with respect to electronic data transfer would reduce the cost of doing business and benefit the business sectors of the country. In his speech, he delivered a comprehensive and insightful commitment for more integration with the business sectors through standardization, harmonization and modernization. He stressed on the need for enhancement of Customs operations, especially in the areas of Technological empowerment, Information and Intelligence through GPS tracking systems, process improvement through CCTV surveillance, Skills Development, and effective implementation of the Single Window concept. He gave a comprehensive account of the steps taken for modernization of Sri Lankan Customs and assured COYLE of his cooperation and the services of his office in ironing out any difficulties the members face in carrying out their business transactions in the future.
The members of COYLE aired their concerns to the Director General, emphasizing the need for Customs cooperation, especially in the field of simplification/harmonization of customs procedures, digitization of documentation and trade facilitative measures for boosting intra-regional trade.
Some of the members shared their experiences in container clearing delays etc. and requested for a more flexible system of releasing cargo and prevent undue losses to importers. In reply, he stated that in future he would facilitate the release of containers on a reasonable guarantee.
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