A7 Capacity building

A7.1 Has the country conducted any awareness programme and/or workshop to ensure the stakeholders, including government agencies and traders, have a common understanding on paperless trade as well as their respective roles to help realize cross-border paperless trade data exchange?

Background

Capacity building is an ongoing activity in most projects. It is particularly important at the onset of implementing cross-border paperless trade projects to ensure that the stakeholders would have a common understanding on the projects, and their respective role and responsibilities to make it a success. The activity of capacity building is necessary at every stage of the cross border paperless trade project.

Expected Answers
  • Yes - The country has conducted awareness programme and workshops to ensure the stakeholders, including government agencies and traders, would have a common understanding on paperless trade as well as their respective roles to help realize cross-border paperless trade data exchange.
  • Partially Yes - The country has conducted some or few awareness programme and workshops. Some key stakeholders including government agencies and traders do not have a common understanding on paperless trade as well as their respective roles to help realize cross-border paperless trade data exchange.
  • No - The country has not conducted any awareness programme and workshops for the stakeholders, including government agencies and traders. Most key stakeholders do not have a common understanding on paperless trade and they cannot take their respective roles well enough to help realize cross-border paperless trade data exchange.
Good Practices

Awareness creation programme on cross-border paperless trade and single window systems should be provided for all relevant stakeholders covering government agencies, traders, agents, service providers etc.

Capacity building and training workshops covering specific topics for different levels of stakeholders should be conducted such that they understand and develop necessary skills to take their respective roles to help realizing cross-border trade data exchange.

Awareness programme and training workshops should be conducted at the national level and also at the agency level. Topics of those workshops should include at least about WTO trade facilitation agreement, business process analysis to simplify trade procedures, paperless trade/single window strategic planning, monitoring mechanism, data harmonization, ICT strategy, security policy, related standards and guidelines.

References and Case Studies

A7.2 Do the stakeholders of cross-border trade in your country fully understand the single window approach?

Background

It is crucial to assess whether the stakeholders of cross-border trade in the country have full understanding about the single window approach.

Expected Answers
  • Yes - The key stakeholders of cross-border trade in the country fully understand the single window approach.
  • Partially Yes - Some stakeholders of cross-border trade in the country fully understand the single window approach, and some may not understand it fully.
  • No - Not all key stakeholders of cross-border trade in the country fully understand the single window approach.
Good Practices

National-level awareness and capacity building programme about the single window approach should be conducted for all key government and business stakeholders in the country. The programme aims to raise awareness of several aspects of the single window environment. It should include the early planning and implementation stages, potential challenges such as ensuring effective stakeholder engagement, an enabling legal framework, reengineering business processes, data harmonization, and lessons learned from other countries in implementing a paperless single window environment.

References and Case Studies

A7.3 Has your country conducted any awareness programme or workshop on single window?

Background

Planning and implementing a single window environment involve multi-facet challenges including several policy, legal, organizational and technical issues. Awareness programme and training workshop on single window should be conducted to raise levels of understanding and skills necessary for key stakeholders from governments and private sectors.

Good Practices

The awareness programme and training workshops should be conducted to raise awareness of several aspects of the single window environment. The topics covered should include in planning, implementation issues, potential challenges such as ensuring effective stakeholder engagement, legal aspects, reengineering business processes, data harmonization, and lessons learned from other countries in implementing a national Single Window.

References and Case Studies

A7.4 What is your country’s future plan and timeline to enhance capacity-building for cross-border paperless trade data exchange?

Background

The country should develop a plan and targeted timeline to conduct awareness and training programme to build capacity of stakeholders for implementing cross-border trade data exchange.

Good Practices

A survey or an assessment to understand the level of understanding among stakeholders of cross-border paperless trade/single window could be conducted such that an appropriate awareness and capacity building programme on single window can be developed and conducted.

The plan for awareness and training programmes should aims to raise awareness and build capacity in several aspects of the Single Window environment in the early planning and also implementation stages, looking at potential challenges such as ensuring effective stakeholder engagement, introducing an enabling legal framework, and reengineering business processes, data harmonization, interoperability, mutual recognition with trading partner(s) and also at lessons learned from other countries in implementing a national Single Window.

References and Case Studies

 

Glossary

  1. Paperless trade refers to the digitization of these information flows, including making available and enabling the exchange of trade-related data and documents electronically. Less formally, one can think of this as cross-border trade transactions using electronic data in lieu of paper-based documents. More...

  2. “Cross-border paperless trade (CBPT)” means trade in goods, including their import, export, transit and related services, taking places on the basis of trade-related data and documents in electronic form. Framework Agreement on Facilitating of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (Article 3: Definitions).

  3. “Single window” means a facility that allows parties involved in a trade transaction to electronically lodge data and documents with a single-entry point to fulfil all import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements. UNECE Recommendation and Guidelines on establishing a Single Window

  4. “Business Process Analysis (BPA)” is a methodology for the analysis of a business with a view to understanding the processes and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations. It describes the processes involved, parties participating, information exchanged and documents produced. More...

  5. “Data harmonization” involves a set of activities that improve the consistency in the use of data elements in terms of their meaning and representation format. More...

  6. “Interoperability” means the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged. Framework Agreement on Facilitating of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (Article 3: Definitions).

  7. “Mutual recognition” means reciprocal recognition of the validity of trade-related data and documents in electronic form exchanged across borders between two or more countries. Framework Agreement on Facilitating of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific (Article 3: Definitions).