Belize advances digital trade system following Jamaica knowledge exchange
Key Points(5)
- Belize has taken another step toward implementing its Electronic Single Window for Trade following the completion of a four-day knowledge exchange with the Jamaica Customs Agency.
- The initiative allowed Belizean officials to gain first-hand insights into Jamaica’s established Single Window for Trade, known as JSWIFT, as Belize works to develop its own digital system for handling trade and border procedures.
- The exchange was conducted under the Trade and Investment Facilitation Program, which is financed by the Inter-American Development Bank through a loan to the Government of Belize and executed by the Central Executing Unit of the Ministry of Finance.
- Belize’s Electronic Single Window, or ESW, is intended to modernize and digitalize import, export and other trade-related processes by improving coordination among government agencies and reducing inefficiencies.
- Officials said lessons from Jamaica’s system will help inform and accelerate Belize’s digital trade transformation.
Belize has taken another step toward implementing its Electronic Single Window for Trade following the completion of a four-day knowledge exchange with the Jamaica Customs Agency.
The initiative allowed Belizean officials to gain first-hand insights into Jamaica’s established Single Window for Trade, known as JSWIFT, as Belize works to develop its own digital system for handling trade and border procedures.
The exchange was conducted under the Trade and Investment Facilitation Program, which is financed by the Inter-American Development Bank through a loan to the Government of Belize and executed by the Central Executing Unit of the Ministry of Finance.
Belize’s Electronic Single Window, or ESW, is intended to modernize and digitalize import, export and other trade-related processes by improving coordination among government agencies and reducing inefficiencies.
Officials said lessons from Jamaica’s system will help inform and accelerate Belize’s digital trade transformation.
The Belizean delegation included members of the ESW Project Technical Team representing the Directorate General for Foreign Trade, Belize Customs and Excise Department, Belize Agricultural Health Authority, Central Information Technology Office and Ministry of Finance.
The technical team is responsible for reviewing and validating business processes and requirements and supporting business process re-engineering, testing and implementation of the system.
The wider initiative also involves the Belize Fisheries Department, the Ministry of Health’s Pharmaceutical Division and the Supplies Control Unit.
According to the government, the Electronic Single Window forms part of broader efforts to improve government efficiency, facilitate legitimate trade and strengthen Belize’s competitiveness by creating more coordinated and streamlined border and trade procedures.
