(Stock Photo)
If Barbados is to reap the multi-dimensional benefits from the Barbados Electronic Single Window (BESW), the system must be thoroughly used.
And, Project Coordinator of the Barbados Competitiveness Programme, Terry Bascombe, is urging all users, especially participating government agencies, to adopt the environment as a daily work tool as Government strives to improve governance and business facilitation in Barbados.
Mr. Bascombe expressed this view on Wednesday at the official launch of the BESW at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. He told his audience that electronic single windows were still evolving and the challenge was to identify the best-fit model for a country’s specific needs.
He pointed out that the BESW involves almost 50 participating government and private agencies and it took six years to implement.
“I would argue that this is a remarkable achievement for a small country during times of limited fiscal flexibility and under circumstances when the system was being implemented simultaneously with over 10 other deliverables,” he stated.
Mr. Bascombe disclosed that a few months ago he was contacted by the Australian Consulate in Barbados and asked to have a 30-minute conversation with a consultant hired by the Australian Government to implement an electronic single window.
“He explained that he had heard about the BESW, saw the terms of reference online, and felt it was a sound model to learn from,” he said.
An electronic single window is an environment that facilitates the electronic submission of standardised international trade and transport-related documents to a single point for processing and approval.
The BESW will provide a single online interface for the exchange of trade-related documents between the trading community and relevant government agencies.
Within this environment, all transacting parties will be able to fulfil their obligations online from anywhere, using any form of internet-enabled communication device. Duplication of entry will be eliminated as entries need only to be submitted once.
To use the BESW, business people must register at https://esw.gov.bb.