Dubai Customs discusses means of growth with members of Consultative Council

Dubai, 6th July 2019:  Director General of Dubai Customs Ahmed Mahboob Musabih said the smart innovative services provided by Dubai Customs was the source of admiration and praise for the World Customs Organization. 

“This was reaffirmed by the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) Mr Kunio Mikuriya during our meeting on the sidelines of the WCO Council 133rd/134th Sessions in Brussels, Belgium” Musabih said in the opening speech of the Dubai Customs Consultative Council meeting, which was held in the presence of Juma Al Ghaith, Executive Director of Customs Development Division at Dubai Customs, Farid Hassan Al Marzouqi, Executive Director, Human Resources, Finance and Administration Division, Abdullah Mohammed Al Khaja, Executive Director of Customer Management Division and Edris Behzad, Director of Client Happiness Management, along with a number of directors of customs centers and business group representatives and members of the Council. 

Musabih added:
“We announced our upcoming hosting of the 5th WCO GLOBAL AEO CONFERENCE, which will be held in Dubai 10-12th March 2020, in cooperation with the Federal Customs Authority, in conjunction with EXPO 2020. More than 100 states and organizations are expected to attend the conference. We are proud of the high level the UAE reached in hosting and organizing international event.”

Rami Zaki, Chairman of the Multinational Companies Business Group (MCBG) reaffirmed the importance of dialogue and exchange of best practices and experiences, especially in competitive regions and markets.  

“Joining forces and exchange of data is cruicial in building better relationships between the public and the private sector” Zaki said. 

The MCBG represents a diverse range of business sectors including industry, technology, energy, food and beverages, automotive and allied industries, energy, fast moving consumer goods, healthcare, insurance and retail. Over half of the group’s member companies are Fortune Global 500 companies. Main objectives of the new business group include sharing knowledge, skills and best practices on issues relating to investment, business, industry, and trade policy in the Gulf region.

On his part, Krishnan Ramachandran, Vice President, Indian Business & Professional 

Council said:
“Trade between India and Dubai has grown up substantially from AED 180 million in 1970 to AED 60 billion in 2018, and expected to make AED 100 billion in the few coming years.”

Ramachandran pointed out that India is the UAE’s 2nd largest partner, and the UAE is India’s 3rd largest partner. 

“The UAE has traditionally been the largest source of remittances to India, which reached around AED 17.5 billion, and the Indian investments in the real estate sector made AED 15.6 billion. We expect the Indian tourists to Dubai to reach 9.1 million in 2020.” 

During the meeting, Ahmed Abdul Salam Kazim, Director of Strategy and Corporate Excellence at Dubai Customs delivered a presentation about the indicators and results of Dubai external trade in 1Q 2019.
 
Dubai non-oil foreign trade made AED 339bn in the first quarter of 2019, which represents an increase of 7% year-on-year from AED 316bn in 1Q last year. Export figures increased the most at 30% to AED 42bn, Re-export was up 7% at AED 106bn and imports were up 4% at AED 190bn.  

 Data released by Dubai Customs showed that 1Q 2019 Dubai non-oil trade volumes increased by 32% to 28m tons (21m tons in 1Q 2018). Exports rose by 94% to 6m tons, Re-exports are up 41% at 4m tons and imports are up 16% at 17m tons.

Mohammed Al Hashimi, Director of Finance Department briefed the attendants on the latest initiatives of Dubai Customs which are created to facilitate legitimate trade and further secure the borders. 

Dubai Customs has recently launched the ‘Virtual Stock Guarantee’ facility for licensed companies and customs warehouses in Dubai Free Zones. The new facility was developed by Dubai Customs to support re-export activity from free zones to global markets and to provide the means 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 in 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 ports of exit.