Economic Council of the French Embassy in the Union of Comoros.

01-12-2018 12:55

The Economic Council of the French Embassy in Comoros, which takes place twice a year, was held in Moroni on 27th November, 2018. It saw the participation of French companies based in Comoros and some others in the region, particularly in Madagascar.
In the margins of the Council, the Ambassador of France, Mrs. Jacqueline Bassa-Mazzoni, organized a Lunch-Debate in which took part in addition to the participants in the Council, some representatives of institutions and local economic operators, the World Bank, the European Union and the Comoros Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The General Administration of Customs, represented by the Director General, Mr. SOUEF Kamalidini, was the guest of honor at this lunch-debate. It was an opportunity for Mr. SOUEF Kamalidini to present to the participants the policy initiated by the Minister in charge of Finance and Budget, Mr. Said Ali Said Chayhane in terms of tax, in general and customs reforms, in particular.

After a reminder of the duties of Customs, the Director General of Customs, president of the Committee of Directors General of Customs of African Union, presented the various reforms initiated within the Customs Services with the aim of fulfilling their missions. He also presented to the audience the performances recorded over the last two years in terms of trade facilitation, revenue collection and exemption control.

Mr. SOUEF Kamalidini also highlighted the policy of the Minister of Finance and Budget to support the private sector by the establishment of a permanent platform of dialogue between the public and the private sector. The Secretary General of the Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Director General of NAPI, respectively Messrs. Fakriddine Abdoulhalik and Abdou Katibou, in their interventions, they both supported the points made by the Director of Customs recalling the importance of the accompanying measures and those which are recently taken by the authorities, such as the investment code and other legal texts, to support the private sector and to improve the business environment in Comoros.

The Director General of Customs appealed to the partners present at the meeting, on the need for capacity building of the staff needed to clean up the business environment, especially the judicial sector.
From the series of various reforms initiated by the Customs Administration in the context of trade facilitation and presented, the project of the forthcoming installation of scanners at the ports of Moroni and Mutsamudu and single window for some customs services, has more attracted the attention of the assistance.

The Managing Director of Moroni Terminal, Emmanuel Masson reassured the economic operators, the forthcoming operational implementation of the scanner of the port of Moroni and expected results as to the speed and facilitation of the freehand of the goods.
Another point emphasized by Mr. SOUEF Kamalidini, is the capacity building of the services of the General Administration of Taxes and Domains (GATD) for the improvement of tax revenues budget. Besides that, the Chairman of the Committee of Directors General of Customs of the African Union recalled that, the average customs duty in the Union of Comoros is the lowest in the region.

Finally, it was stressed the need for Comoros to ratify some agreements already signed by the country , in this case the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union and those related to the African Free Trade Area, in order to best benefit the advantages from these Agreements.



Others news