Creating trusted partnerships

Creating a Trusted and Transparent Partnership Between Government and Legitimate Trade

The state of the relationship between the trading community in a country and the relevant government authorities is often characteristic of the level of trade facilitation provided. Countries that have established formal consultative relationships with the trading community, in which new developments, legislation and projects are discussed prior to taking effect, show the highest score in relevant international business and performance indexes such as the Logistics Performance Index of the World Bank.
While government authorities need to apply transparency and good governance in their daily business practices, the trading community has to comply with all relevant laws and regulations in order to establish an atmosphere of mutual trust. In return, compliant traders should be rewarded by giving them access to simplified procedures. Such an environment of trust and confidence in the reliability and predictability of government services and actions has a positive effect on trade and foreign investment, thus contributing to the overall economic and social development of the country.

The itinerary shown above suggests a range of measures contained in this Trade Facilitation Guide which, taken through the suggested principal steps, can help to build trusted and transparent relationships between traders and government authorities over time.