Dubai Customs’ transactions grow 53% to 11m in H1, 2021

Dubai: Customs transactions completed by Dubai Customs reached 11.2 million transactions in the first half of 2021 staggeringly growing 53.4 per cent from 7.3m transactions in the corresponding period in 2020.

This reflects a versatile and resilient economy that is able to absorb severe shocks like that caused by the pandemic.

It also reflects the vital role Dubai plays as a global trade hub and the resilience of its infrastructure and systems in dealing with tough challenges including covid-19.

“Dubai is leading the global recovery way. The emirate’s non-oil external trade grew 10 per cent to Dh354.4 billion in Q1, 2021, from Dh 323 billion in the corresponding period in 2020,” said Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director General of Dubai Customs.

“Trade sector in Dubai plays a pivotal role in supporting the economy. We work hard in Dubai to ensure the continuous success of this sector, helping Dubai maintain its leading global position as a global hub for business and investment.”

Expo initiatives

Dubai Customs has launched 24 initiatives, which are dedicated to serve the visitors and exhibitors of EXPO2020.The initiatives are fully integrated with other government partners’ systems.”

Dubai Customs completed 11.16 million transactions through smart and electronic channels (99.6%). Around 7.9 million customs transactions (70.8%) were completed through smart channels, 3.2 million (28.8%) through electronic channels, and only 41,800 (0.37%) transactions were done manually.

Customs declarations rose 66.6 per cent in the first 6 months of this year to reach 10 million declarations compared to 6 million declarations in the corresponding period in the previous year. This means more than 55,500 declarations a day in average. This big figure would not have been achieved without the outstanding technological structure in place including the advanced Smart Workspace, which helped complete a declaration in 4 minutes in average.

The transactions also included 475,900 claim requests, 298,000 certificate and report requests, and 139,800 customs inspection date booking requests, and 110,600 business registration requests.