Record results and renowned awards for Dubai Customs in 1st quarter 2019

Dubai, UAE, April 13, 2019:  Director of Dubai Customs Ahmed Mahboob Musabih applauded the great acheivements of Dubai Customs in Q1 2019, which came in fulfilment of the emirate’s overall vision in general and the 50-Year Charter and the Eight Principles of Governance in particular. The organization has scored best on the “Leadership in Government Services Index”. 

“Improving government services is key for the Dubai Government vision, as part of its strategy to implement the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, which seeks to achieve the highest levels in government services.” Says Musabih “Intensive preparations are taking place for the upcoming EXPO 2020, and we have done our bit with the launch of the Smart Customs EXPO Channel which will provide quick and direct services to the exhibitors.” 

Happiness is a commitment 

Director of Dubai Customs reaffirmed that happiness of their clients is a priority and a commitment. There are unprecedented facilitations to trade procedures, and the organization listens to its clients and invites them regularly to the Dubai Customs Consultative Council Meeting to discuss with them their concerns and suggestions. 

Musabih said: “Making clients happy is an important part of our organization’s strategic plan 2016-2021, and our dedication to achieve this has helped us top the client happiness meter with 97.5% in 2018. The momentum continues through Q1 2019 as we scored 98%, which again reflects how committed towards our clients’ happiness we are”. 

Global capital of economy 

In Q1 2019, customs transactions grew 8.5% to 2.6m transactions from 2.4m in the same period of 2018. If this momentum is kept, it is expected 10.5m transactions will have been done by end of 2019 compared to 9.6m in 2018.  

Society protection 

With highly skilled and experienced inspection officers and the latest inspection devices and technologies Dubai Customs maintains a very high level of security over its borders and entry points. Passenger Operations Department at Dubai International Airport successfully made two drug seizures in Q1. The first one weighed 4.4kg of heroin and the second one weighed 8.6 kg of cocaine. Jebel Ali Customs Center made 35 different seizures, and the Land Customs Center foiled a marijuana smuggling attempt, among others. 

Carpet Oasis 

Themed “Mix of art and innovation”, the 24th edition of the exhibition organised by Dubai Customs features more than 15,000 exquisite and rare carpets. A number of activities took place during the exhibition, including a wall mural on the theme of tolerance and a workshop that raised awareness around the great value of this art and profession and trained 27 women how to make carpets.

Innovative events 

Dubai Customs organized a number of events in the UAE Innovation Month 2019. The IPR Department launched the digital book ‘IPR Kids’ in a ceremony at the Kid Zania. The department has also organized an event at VR in Dubai Mall where many kids were trained on how to combat digital piracy through a virtual game “Coby Cat Combat”. The IPR department seized 115,589 counterfeited pieces including shoes, electronics, clothes, games with a market value of AED 216,000.

Dubai loyalty

Dubai Loyalty program, innovated by Dubai Customs and shortlisted for second phase of Dubai 10X program, was launched. The first of its kind program in the world rewards clients of government departments with rewards for any transaction they do. 

Virtual Stock Guarantee

Dubai Customs recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Free Zones Council to help with the implementation of the “Virtual Stock Guarantee” initiative. The new facility was developed by Dubai Customs to support re-export activity from free zones to external markets within Dubai Customs’ efforts to help Dubai maintain a leading position and turn into a world economic capital. This initiative is the first of its kind in the world. More than 18,000 companies based on 24 free zones and 37 customs warehouses can benefit from the Virtual Stock Guarantee facility, in addition to customs warehouse companies willing to use it to re-export their goods solely through Dubai’s air and sea ports, and the UAE land exits. 

Customs Week

Dubai Customs organized more than 70 different activities, including 15 workshops, during the UAE 2nd Customs Week. Around 4,500 clients, students, passengers, people of determination (special needs) and employees participated in the events which involved 16 customs departments and centers. Daily raffle draws were organized and 85 lucky winners received valuable prizes including cars and flight tickets. 

15 new companies 

Dubai Customs organized the 3rd honoring ceremony for 15 new companies that recently joined the Authorized Economic Program (AEO), which raises the number of AEO member companies to 55. 

The Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) has seen rapid growth and development since its official launch under the aegis of the Federal Customs Authority (FCA) in October 2016. New members are joining, and new mutual recognition agreements are signed. A work plan for a future mutual recognition agreement was signed between the UAE and China in December 2018, and a mutual recognition agreement was signed with South Korea in July 2017. In November, a work plan was signed with KSA.  

60 jobs 

Dubai Customs took part in the UAE Career Fair 2019 with more focus on the people of determination (special needs) segment. A total of 60 vacancies were dedicated to the people of determination. 

This year, Dubai Customs has introduced the “One-day recruitment” initiative at the Fair, through which shortlisted candidates signed the contract with Dubai Customs the same day. 

International recognition 

Dubai Customs earned a number of awards in the 1st quarter. Its Enterprise Architecture, which was developed in-house, won the President’s Award – Service Delivery and Automation at the Open Group Innovation and Excellence conference, held in the Indian city Kochi this February. It is a prestigious event organized with a motivation to provide an excellent international platform for innovators and global experts to exchange and share their ideas and insights. The Catalysts Awards in its 5th edition honored the industry trailblazers including Dubai Customs. Maintaining its legacy, the awards recognized the top CIOs/IT Heads in various verticals, sales and marketing leaders and well as the emerging marketers.

The Service Innovation Department at Dubai Customs received the award under the CIO IN GOVERNMENT category in the presence of 300 IT companies from around the globe. Dubai Customs also won a top CSR award in Malaysia.