RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 7th EDITION OF THE ISWC OF AAEC
Excellency, Minister of Commerce, Representing the President of the Republic of Cameroon,
Mr. President of the African Alliance for Electronic Commerce (AAEC),
Representatives of the Member Countries of the African Alliance for Electronic Commerce (AAEC),
Representatives of international, regional and sub-regional organizations,
Gentlemen, the General Managers,
Senior Managers of the Public Administration and private structures in charge of foreign trade issues,
Gentlemen, international experts and panelists,
Illustrious guests,
Dear participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
At the end of the proceedings of the 7th edition of the International Single Window Conference organized by AAEC and Cameroon’s Single Window for Foreign Trade (GUCE) under the theme “Unlocking the potential of electronic commerce and optimizing the international supply chain for landlocked countries“
I have the honor to read out the recommendations stemming from the various thematic sessions of this conference.
After synthesis of the Technical Secretariat of this conference, the said recommendations are grouped in the following two major sections :
- CFTA and ways to enhance intra-African electronic commerce ;
- Establishment of Single Windows and trade facilitation instruments for landlocked countries.
Concerning the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and ways to enhance intra-African electronic commerce, the recommendations formulated by participants are the following:
- Ensure the proper command of procedures by building on ICTs ; optimizing customs rules and controls of other technical administrative bodies, and FMO along the corridors and at the borders with the view to ensuring a real operation of CFTA ;
- Enhance the quality of products, the diversification of exports and promote internationalization of African companies in general and small and medium enterprises in particular for the promotion of products Made in Africa ;
- Envisage a regional digital market by fostering the development of foreign trade platforms through appropriate funding ;
- Accelerate the ratification of an agreement on the establishment of the African free trade area including all African Union member countries.
As to the implementation of Single Windows and trade facilitation instruments for landlocked countries, the recommendations are the following:
- Implement and optimize national Single Windows and federate them around a regional platform with the view to smoothening intra-Africa trade ;
- Develop regional agreements and/or strengthen cooperation and support of supply chains, notably through the development of interoperable IT systems and systems of licensed operators based on mutual recognition ;
- Develop the regional electronic cargo tracking system through close collaboration amongst cargo management bodies: BGFT, BARC, BNFT for CEMAC ;
- Implement mechanisms for the steering and monitoring of the recommendations formulated by national and regional bodies ;
- Encourage customs administrations to resort to regional electronic seals to be used for transit operations in the region, as the replacement of the electronic seals at the borders is prone to delays ;
- Develop and modernize material (port, airport, road, and rail facilities and means of transport) and immaterial (IT infrastructure and services) facilities;
- Accelerate the appropriation of a Single Form for foreign trade operations for landlocked countries of the CEMAC space ;
- Lay emphasis on the maturation of electronic trade facilitation and SW implementation projects, while ensuring appropriateness between the targeted facilitation objectives and the expected results ;
- Engage public stakeholders in performance contracts as to the processing and issuance of trade-related administrative documents ;
- Develop local technical and technological skills with the view to ensuring the proper command of the implementation of IT systems and electronic service trade, towards the emergence of digital economy in African countries ;
- Propose projects that tally with the actual problems faced by stakeholders.
Hoping that these recommendations truthfully reflect the richness of exchanges during the conference,
I would like to thank you for your kind attention
