Illustrative image (Source: internet)The high-level meeting forthe Euro-Asia region on improving cooperation on transit, trade facilitationand the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is taking place inVietnam’s capital city from March 7-9.
Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group Senior VicePresident for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations andPartnerships, held that it is necessary to increase cooperation right within acountry, saying the lack of exchange and coordination among domestic agencieswill slow down trade facilitation and affect communities in society, especiallythe business community.
The WTO trade facilitation agreement took effecton February 22, 2017, marking an important milestone in the global tradesystem, he said.
The agreement allows countries and internationalorganizations and experts to design numerous programmes to promote nationaltrade in member countries with the ultimate goal of poverty elimination andprosperity, he added.
Counselor Raul Torres from the WTO DevelopmentDivision said so far 17 landlocked countries have ratified the agreement –which includes measures to promote free transit, border gate cooperation, andinformation technology for nations without seas.
The utilization of this agreement will helpcountries pursue sustainable development, promote trade, and develop privatecapability and international integration.
Regarding the Customs Convention on InternationalTransport of Goods (TIR), Jens Hugel, Head of Goods Transport and SustainableDevelopment under the International Road Transport Union, said the TIR benefitsnot only landlocked and developing countries but also under-developed ones.
André Sceia from the TIR Secretariat and theSustainable Transport Division of the UN Economic Commission for Europe,recommended countries promote harmony in customs clearance procedures atnational border gates.-VNA
VNA
