THE Ministry of Business, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will host a one-day Electronic Single Window Workshop here next Wednesday at the Pegasus Hotel.
The theme of the workshop is “Developing a Roadmap to Electronic Single Window in Guyana’

According to a Ministry of Business release, the main objective of the Workshop is to identify and analyse conceptual models, challenges for implementation and global best practice for an Electronic Single Window in Guyana. It is expected that the information shared and exchanged will lead to a determination of the best route for ESW development in Guyana. Participants who will be engaged in this Workshop are institutions that will be a part of the effort of developing and implementing the Electronic Single Window, including regulatory agencies like the Guyana Revenue Authority, Guyana National Bureau of Standards, private sector representatives and relevant public-sector agencies. This initiative is being led by the Ministry of Business as part of its Strategic Action Plan for 2016-2020.

According to the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) Recommendation 33, a Single Window is defined as “A facility that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfil all import, export, and transit-related regulatory

requirements. If information is electronic, then individual data elements should only be submitted once.” The Single Window aims to expedite and simplify information flows between trade participants and the Government, bringing meaningful gains to all parties involved in domestic and cross-border trade.