Governments are making slow progress in improving customs and border procedures despite huge potential for reforms to drive inclusive growth, says new report from the World Economic Forum and the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation. Findings come as the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement – the first global trade deal in 20 years, aimed at …
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Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s Joint Inspection Centre (JIC) has received royal approval, having been opened by King Willem-Alexander. The JIC is one project within the Schiphol SmartGate Cargo programme is designed to make cargo handling at Schiphol safer and more efficient by enabling different enforcement and inspection authorities to carry out checks together. Logistics and …
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Think back just a few years — social, mobile, cloud, and big data ruled the emerging technology landscape. Business and technology management executives wondered what big data meant, when the cloud would disrupt their companies, and how to engage effectively on social channels. In 2016, Hadoop turned 10, the cloud has been around even …
Europeans are most concerned about immigration and terrorism at a continental level according to recent surveys. On a country level, Europeans have a different concern at the top of their list: unemployment. The latest survey, conducted in May, sees the first fall in mentions of immigration in nearly three years. Terrorism sees a fourth …
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While we live in a turbolent world of crises and change – with many people talking about the increasing risks of protectionism and less multinatilnal cooperation, there is alsl some really good news. Chile and Swaziland have ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement, bringing the tally to 98 members. We now have nearly 90% of …
Imagine if it only took a day for products to travel over land from China to Germany. It could soon be a reality, if Russia goes ahead with a plan to introduce a new fast-speed pipeline called the Hyperloop. Much as oil and gas travel through pipes, cargo and passengers may soon find themselves …
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For the eleventh time – ten in a row – Zlatan Ibrahimovic yesterday evenkng was awarded the prize as Swedens’ best football player. The Golden Ball was handed over to Zlatan at a ceremony in Stockholm. Since Zlatan also stopped his knternational career in the Swedish natilnal team this year after the EuroCup 2016 …
Today I had meetings with the Federation of Brazilian Industry (CNI) in Brasilia. Together with Allianca Procomex, we have worked with CNI during the last three years on reform and modernization of Customs and Trade. It is a great partner in Brazil, always looking for ways to improve Brazilian competiveness.
This week I am in Brasilia working on AEO Brazil Phase III, Integrated AEO – crating a Single Government AEO Status. Exiting work. The pilot is done with Receita Federal (Customs), MAPA/Vigiagro (Agriculture) and ANVISA (Health), making reality of the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards Pillar III: Customs to other Government Agency Cooperation. Together …
We often hear about the dark web being linked to terrorist plots, drug deals, knife sales and child pornography, but beyond this it can be hard to fully understand how the dark web works and what it looks like. So just for a minute imagine that the whole internet is a forest – a …
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What does it mean to be a ‘sustainable city’, and which cities around the world are best at it? A new index sets out to find the most successful from a list of 100 cities. The Swedish capital Stockholm is at top of the list. The ranking from Arcadis, a design and consultancy firm, …
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Today, November 14, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven met President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, when the the President made his first official visit to Stockholm. President Poroshenkos visit is part of an intense stream of bilateral meetings between Sweden and Ukraine. During the meeting Prime Minister Löfven confirmed that Sweden stands by Ukraine in these …
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In an interesting WEF article Arancha González Laya, who is Executive Director at the International Trade Centre, express why globalization can be one of the positive answers for the challenges of the future. I personally very much agree with Ms. González Laya, who I have met on several occasions and i found her to …
Continue reading “Globalization is worth saving. Here’s how to do it”
“Trade is a core ingredient of growth and jobs, and falling oil prices mean oil-rich countries such as Angola need support to diversify away from oil,” says Joakim Reiter, Deputy Secretary-General,UNCTAD. UNCTAD and EU are discussing a wide-reaching technical assistance and training programme for national experts in Angola’s Ministry of Trade, worth €5.5 million ($6.1 …
Have you ever visited Stockholm? If you haven’t – you should. If do, don’t miss to take the Metro. The Stockholm underground system has been described as ‘a 115 kilometer long art exhibition’ with more than 90 of the network’s 100 stations decorated with sculptures, rock formations, mosaics, paintings, installations, engravings and reliefs by …
Snow. It is that time of the year. In Sweden, my country. Also on the South where I live. Winter is of cause natural to us. We are used to cold weather, snow and ice. However, every year when the first snow arrives there are always traffic jams and delays in public transportation. Are …
Today I have been in our office in Antwerp for various meetings. It is always a pleasure to visit my very competent colleagues all around the world. We have a great office here on Belgium.
Happiness may be one of the world’s least controversial things. Who among us doesn’t want to be happy? As Aristotle put it: “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” When it comes to measuring happiness, though, things get a little stickier and consensus becomes …
Lennart Johansson, born 5 November 1929, was the fifth and, to date, the longest serving president of UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, from his election at UEFA’s Malta Congress in 1990 until 2007. Mr. Johansson, a legend in Swedish soccer, has also named the trophy for the Swedish Championship in football/soccer. A …
Enough of movies about detectives, spies and lawyers – and finally a movie about the real heroes of business life, accountants. Today our business process are based on systems and the monitoring relies on system based controls. Also in Customs through systems like AEO and Trusted Traders. It will be even more so in …
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