Guyana to develop e-commerce, postal database mechanisms
Guyana is finally taking steps to improve the relationship between customs and e-commerce, as it engaged 22 countries on Monday, in a discussion on the procedures that will lead to a successful data exchange system.
The participants of the workshop pose for a photo outside the Guyana Post Office
This was revealed by Regional Project Coordinator for the Caribbean with the Universal Postal Union (UPU), Wenabi Pottprice, at the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC). Pottprice noted that countries were working together on a solution to further develop the competency of their postal and communication systems.
The workshop was held in association with the joint World Customs Organisation (WCO) workshop and the UPU, with its main focus on addressing one of the key strategic projects of the UPU, which is operational readiness for e-commerce.
“We’re looking to assist designated operators to maintain, expand and strengthen their operational network. Of course, when looking at e-commerce, customs is very important to that process. It is important that both customs and postal work together and collaborate at all levels, both at the strategic and national levels,” she stated.
She noted that since the countries were in the process of collaborating at a strategic level, the coordinators were hoping that this could be replicated at the national level, within the 23 participating countries.
“We’re looking at an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between customs and the post and how that can be implemented at the national level, because it’s already at the strategic level between the WCO and the UPU. We’re also going to be looking at database exchange, advanced database exchange between customs and postal and also amount of post in the regions,” Pottprice explained.
Additionally, it was mentioned that the main emphasis will be placed on improving the working relationships between postal entities and customs, which will be addressed primarily in these consultations.
While this is the first workshop of its kind in Guyana, there have been similar consultations on data exchanging, projects to enhance working relationships, and e-commerce.
