Liberal, digitised customs to benefit Bangladesh in global trade: ICC chair

Bangladesh has a bright future ahead if it opens itself up to the world and forms more trade partnerships with other countries, said Maria Fernanda Garza, chair of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Customs digitisation would be the real task Bangladesh needs to do to ensure efficiency and transparency in cross-border trade, she said during an interview with several media outlets at a Dhaka hotel on Tuesday.

Maria Fernanda said data suggests when countries open trade and investment to the world their economies start to grow. 

"You [Bangladesh] are facing new challenges related to the LDC graduation. It is important for Bangladesh to start looking into free trade agreements as it boosts trade and investment," she said, adding that her home country Mexico was benefitting from the 32 different free trade agreements that allowed its strong access to the gigantic North American market.

"The government should proactively identify the groups of people to be hurt by the opening up and support them so that liberalisation proves to be a win-win for all. We believe, through global trade, countries can achieve peace and prosperity," she said. 

"It is important what Bangladesh has accomplished. It is a testament to the rest of the world that things can really be done when the government and the private sector are in collaboration. I look forward to establishing a closer collaboration," she said while discussing ICC's role in promoting various initiatives including the Digital Standards Initiative.

"Today we all live in a digital world. However, we do not conduct international trade digitally as only 1% of international trade is conducted by digital means. We offered the Bangladesh government our support in trade digitisation," the ICC Chair said.

Digital customs could reduce the need for paper documentation. A regular international trade transaction needs at least 30-40 documents printed on around 240 pages of paper. Also, it implies that people engaged in the transaction need to fill in the information 10 to 20 times and that is prone to a lot of mistakes, she said.

"By digitising the trade documents, we will not only be saving enormous amounts of money, but also, we will become more efficient. That is important in order to allow SMEs to participate in international trade," Maria Fernanda said.

Another benefit, the data generated through the transactions will allow us to have more transparency into the operations and be more efficient by utilising that non-personal data, she said.

"Digitalisation to benefit all the countries including Bangladesh to become more efficient and to have more of their businesses participate in the global trade," she said.  

Paris-based ICC, as the largest body of the world's businesses, has the highest input in framing the global rules and regulations for trade, while the century-old ICC Court of Arbitration is the top place for the world's companies that look to get their cross-border business disputes resolved.

"For a smoother dispute resolution, Bangladesh needs changes in its legal frameworks. The  

ICC is bringing the opportunity to Bangladeshi businesses to participate in global discussions, while its local wing ICC Bangladesh is an advocate for reforms and collaboration between the government and the private sector," Maria said.

"Integrity is an important part of ICC, it was the first business organisation since the late 70s that put the anti-corruption issues on the table and recognised that business is part of the problem, but it is also a part of the solution," she said.

"Businesses have a responsibility towards society, to behave in an integral manner and also collaborate with the government so it also behaves in a more integral manner," she said, emphasising ICC's role in promoting ethics in business.