Business & Money | Wednesday 9 November, 2016 3:56 pm |

Dubai Customs and Dubai Customs World (DCW), with the participation of Dubai Trade, have received a delegation from the Republic of Ukraine to discuss furthering customs cooperation, joint coordination and bilateral trade between the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine.

The meeting came to put into effect the Memorandum of Understanding on logistics services signed with Ukrainian government by Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, DP World Group Chairman and CEO & Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation. The signing took place during Bin Sulayem’s recent visit to Ukraine last October, where he met Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko who gave his blessing for the conclusion of the MOU with DP World.     

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, in presence of Faisal Eissa Lutfi, CEO of Dubai Customs World and External Relations Director at Dubai Customs, welcomed the visiting Ukrainian delegation which comprised Roman Nasirov, Head of State Fiscal Service, Ukraine,  Yuriy Polurez, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UAE, and Petro Holoveshko, Consul General of Ukraine in Dubai.

“Dubai Customs is keen to enhance cooperation and coordination with Ukraine’s government agencies in charge of foreign trade development, with special focus on delivering the best of trade and customs facilitations to Ukrainian companies based in Dubai to help increase their business here,” said Ahmed Mahboob.

Dubai’s foreign  trade with Ukraine has maintained a growing trend over the past few years to reach AED 1.1 billion in 2015, he added.

“Imports contributed AED 782.4 million last year, while exports and re-exports were valued at AED 107.8 million and AED 241.4 million, respectively. As for the first half of 2016, Dubai-Ukraine bilateral trade totaled AED 506.1 million.

 “We are inspired by the UAE leadership’s directions to continue strengthening our commercial and customs relationships with friendly countries to reinforce the UAE’s pivotal role in global trade and drive growth in Dubai’s trading activities with major markets worldwide ,” Musabih said.     

On the other hand, Faisal Eissa Lutfi chaired a coordination meeting held jointly by DCW and Dubai Trade with the visiting Ukrainian delegation. The session was attended by Mahmood Albastaki, CEO of Dubai Trade, Adolphe Chaiban, Head of Development at Dubai Customs World, and Fayez Maarrawi, Head of Commercial Operations at Dubai Trade.

The meeting briefed Ukraine’s delegates about the cutting-edge customs systems and processes applied by Dubai Customs as well as DC’s efforts to  improve performance on par with highest international standards and global best practices.

The delegation was also introduced to the efforts undertaken by DCW to contribute to capacity-building and systems development  of Customs administrations around the world, especially in areas of security protection, risk management and mitigation, valuation and revenue collection, trade facilitation, and other aspects of Customs business.    

Dubai Trade, in turn, walked the visitors through the smart integrated electronic services it offers to customers and the business community via a single window linking all stakeholders in trade and logistics within Dubai.   

Faisal Lutfi commented: “Dubai Customs World is commissioned to export Dubai’s rich expertise and world-class advancements in Customs work to interested nations around the globe to assist them in enhancing their customs and trade efficiency. Our mission is to offer these countries customised capacity-building and development programs that fit their specific needs and requirements.”

The visit of Ukraine’s foreign trade agencies to Dubai falls within this spirit of cooperation and coordination to enable knowledge transfer and sharing of our best practices with them, he added.

Roman Nasirov, Head of Ukraine’s State Fiscal Service, commended the collaborative  efforts of Dubai Customs and Dubai Customs World and their obvious commitment to developing Customs work globally based on Dubai’s longstanding and internationally-recognized experience in the field.