National Trade Facilitation Committee holds high-level review meeting

•  Steps up efforts to boost trade facilitation commitments, reinforce business environment
•  Underscores urgency of taking decisive action to enhance business landscape
•  Govt. aims to expedite trade facilitation commitments, and promote conducive business climate by addressing key issues in staffing, budget allocation, implementing National Single Window
•  Private sector stakeholders stress need to establish a formal reporting mechanism to track progress of commitments by each State agency

The National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) conducted a high-level review meeting to boost the country’s trade facilitation commitments and reinforce the business environment.

The high-level review of the NTFC’s performance underscored the urgency of taking decisive action to enhance the business landscape, as the Government aims to expedite trade facilitation commitments and promote a conducive atmosphere for businesses in the country by addressing key issues such as staffing, budget allocation, and the implementation of the National Single Window.

The review also focused on assessing the progress of trade facilitation commitments and scrutinising the performance of the NTFC Secretariat.

The meeting was chaired by the Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday along with the participation of committee members representing 12 State agencies and seven private sector Chambers, along with the Secretaries of the Ministries of Investment Promotion, Trade, Commerce, and Food Security.

Representatives from the private sector also voiced their opinions on expediting actions to ensure the completion of measures ahead of the projected timeline of 2025-2030.

They also stressed the need for a higher-level authority to oversee the efficient functioning of the NTFC Secretariat. In addition, the private sector stakeholders emphasised the importance of establishing a formal reporting mechanism to track the progress of commitments by each State agency.

To streamline compliance and optimise performance, several directives were issued during the meeting. Firstly, it was decided to establish the NTFC Secretariat under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance. Secondly, immediate measures will be taken to address the staffing requirements of the Secretariat. Lastly, the budget allocated for the NTFC Secretariat in 2023, currently under the Department of Customs, will be transferred to the Ministry of Finance to prioritise pending actions such as the development of the NTFC website and progress reporting system.

During the meeting, deliberations took place concerning the proposed National Single Window, a system aimed at simplifying and expediting trade processes. The participants agreed to expedite the submission of the proposal sequentially to ensure its swift implementation.

Ceylon National Chamber of Industries Chairman Canisius Fernando, Vice Chairperson, Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce Vice Chairperson Gayani De Alwis, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Assistant Secretary Manori Dissanayake, Department of Commerce Deputy Director and NTFC Secretariat Prashadi Boomawalage, Presidential Secretariat Director Strategic Affairs Division A. Kavita and several other officials participated in this meeting.