Windhoek
While it is important to emphasise that the Namibia trade information portal (NTIP) resonates with the e-government initiative that seeks to harness inter-governmental agency collaboration, the portal and its long-term sustainability and relevance are dependent on it being timeously updated through collaborative undertakings by all key stakeholders. The portal, which was launched last week, seeks to address the continuous nurturing of data sharing among government institutions to ensure consistency of information and avoid duplication.
“For this reason, I strongly appeal to my fellow minsters to designate focal points in their ministries which shall administer and avail timely updates, preferably online transmission of such information to our designated team in the Ministry of Finance, which will in turn keep the portal updated,” said Minister of Finance, Calle Schlettwein, during NTIP’s launch at a local hotel last week.
Schlettwein added that the implementation of the portal is a key precursor to the establishment of the national single window (NSW).
“The single window initiative, which was approved by cabinet in February last year, will benefit from better inter-governmental cooperation and coordination already prevailing within the portal expedited trade-related activities. Indeed, the national single window will also offer to the trade community a one-time, single-point submission of all the required documentation to all trade related entities for either import, export or transit procedures and provide all relevant trade related documents,” said Schlettwein.
The NTIP is expected to make information access to the trading community available at the touch of a button. Information available through the portal will include laws, regulations and legal instruments; application forms; document process flow and times; tariffs, prohibitions, restrictions, permits, quotas; free trade agreements and preferential duty rates; contact details for government institutions, trade associations of Namibia as well as international trade bodies.
A distinct feature of the portal is its ability to enable traders to navigate, search and find corresponding commodity codes and appropriate scientific commodity descriptions of a product as required in the World Customs Organisation (WCO) Nomenclature, which is an international instrument referred to as the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System.
“I am further pleased to note that the portal is further expected to ensure that the information provided to the traders is timely, relevant and predictable, thus mitigating the risk of diversity of sources providing conflicting and outdated information,” added Schlettwein.
The finance minister also thanked United States Ambassador, Thomas Daughton, who through USAID’s Southern Africa Trade Hub provided technical and financial support for the NTIP facility.
“I would like to emphasise that the success of the Namibia trade information portal lies in ensuring its maximum utilisation by the entire trading community. This can only be achieved through effective awareness on the benefits provided by the portal as well as ensuring effective collaboration among all government institutions which impose trade controls and work together to provide timeous, consistent and relevant information,” said Schlettwein.