ISLAMABAD: The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has said that the Integrated Transit Trade Management System (ITTMS) project has been initiated under the vision of the Pakistan government to develop trade and transit network that traverses South Asia to connect Central Asian countries to Southeast Asia.
According to a working paper of the FBR, a copy of which is available with WealthPK, the primary objective of the project is to address all those inadequacies that are hampering full capitalisation of the transit trade potential of Pakistan by incorporating improved and integrated process, using information and communication technologies (ICT)-backbone, in order to enhance trade facilitation in international supply chain.
After the smooth implementation of the project, it will provide tangible outcomes to boost transit trade, and promote ease of doing business.
The project will digitise non-intrusive scanning and entry/exit of cargo traffic, and also the passengers profiling in compliance with Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention), and Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) and other regimes. It will help in digital end-to-end tracking of containerised cargo on the whole supply chain through geo-fencing to reduce enroute pilferage of goods, thus ensuring cargo security and national revenue.
The project will integrate Web-Based One Customs (WeBOC) system with Pakistan Single Window (PSW) portal for real time data sharing with concerned stakeholders. It will provide electronic data interchange (EDI) with regional economies/trading partners and institutional development for port governance through Pakistan Land Port Authority (PLPA).
The sectoral objective of the project is to enhance ease of doing business that records time and cost associated with the logistical process of exporting and importing goods.
The key performance indicators (KPIs) of the project include construction of border crossing point (BCP) infrastructure and facility at Torkham, Chaman and Wahga, establishment of Pakistan Land Port Authority (PLPA) and increase the knowledge and skills of border point operating agencies.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a sponsoring agency of the project and it is also funded by Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) through Revenue Division of the Government of Pakistan.
The project was started in July 2018 and it is likely to be completed in June 2023. The estimated cost of the project is $300 million. Physical progress on the project is 40%, while financial progress is 40.5%, and so far, $115 million has been disbursed for its construction.
A PLPA coordinator has been hired to improve synergies between stakeholders, and enhance monitoring. Legal Act for the authority will be finalised by incorporating feedback from stakeholders.
For the execution of the project, the Project Management Support Cell (PMSC) provides technical support and it ensures the projects’ sustainability during post-implementation stage, and reporting to ADB on the achieved development impacts.
Construction Supervision Consultant (CSC) reviews and certifies detailed design and selection of the equipment and components for the proposed system and the offered costs. It ensures that the drawings and plans prepared by the contractor are in conformity with specifications, and meet the required objectives.
It also supervises construction of facilities and installation of the procured equipment for the effective operation, and ensures that it conforms to the specification, drawings, standards and plans, and it is consistent with the client’s requirements. – INP