Dubai eGovernment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Customs, to jointly develop a new service that allows processing of online shipping permits for restricted goods.
The MoU was signed today, (Tuesday, June 13, 2006) between Salem Al Shair, Director of eServices, Dubai eGovernment and Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Director General of Dubai Customs.
Welcoming the agreement, Al Shair said: “We are glad to work with Dubai Customs and provide our business integration expertise in building an efficient and intelligent electronic platform that will help to speed up administrative procedures involved in the application and issue of permits for restricted goods.”
“This online service furthers our objectives of ushering in eServices at all levels of the administration to provide transparent, speedy and efficient public services. We are committed to introduce electronic services in more government departments so as to benefit consumers, curtail public expenditure and contribute to the economic progress of Dubai and the UAE,” he added.
Under the joint initiative, Dubai eGovernment will coordinate with other government departments and ministries and obtain all required permits electronically, which will then be forwarded electronically to Dubai Customs. The pilot project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2006.
Ahmed Butti Ahmed said: “We look forward to collaborating with Dubai eGovernment in offering the online service. This will save time and resources for Dubai Customs, provide prompt services to our clients from different business sectors, while speeding up the movement of goods and give a tremendous boost to trade coming into Dubai. This initiative also reflects the mission of Dubai Customs which is working in collaboration with government and key stakeholders to continuously improve compliance, meeting national and international commitments and applying controls in a seamless and cost effective way.
This service forms part of Dubai eGovernment’s Business Integration Program Office, which is currently at level five and is spearheading the transformation of a virtual eGovernment in Dubai through the provisioning of high-quality customer focused eServices for citizens, residents, visitors and businesses.
Dubai eGovernment is a pioneering initiative in the region to provide online services across the spectrum of corporate and community life in the emirate. It also has a vision to integrateindividually automated government departments under the single umbrella of the eGovernment initiative, thus empowering employees across lines of businesses and levels of government, besides facilitating the lives of citizens and customers of the government. Dubai has taken a lead in the region in deploying eGovernment applications and is among the first few governments in the world to provide such integrated services to its citizens. The eGovernment portal (www.dubai.ae) is a single contact point masking the complexity of the bureaucratic procedures, and guiding access to all services in the easiest possible way. In addition, the eGovernment initiative seeks to improve and enhance procedures by maximizing the benefit from technology, so that users from all walks of life will be able to utilize the portal for their specific needs with considerable ease.
