Kathmandu. Kathmandu: A three-day meeting of customs officials of South Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) member states began in Kathmandu today.

The meeting is being attended by top officials of customs administrations of Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

On the occasion, Secretary at the Ministry of Finance Dinesh Kumar Ghimire stressed the need for concerted cooperation among all member states to facilitate and speed up cross-border trade. He expressed the belief that the use of modern technology in the customs process and coordinated border management would help reduce trade delays and increase transparency and the common goal of achieving regional economic prosperity could be achieved through this.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Chairman of SASEC Customs Sub-Group and Director General of Customs Department Mahesh Bhattarai expressed the belief that the meeting would further strengthen cooperation between the member countries in cross-border trade, customs process and transport management. He said the member states were moving towards making cross-border trade faster, easier and transparent through the use of digital technology and stressed that such meetings would further accelerate such initiatives.

The meeting is scheduled to discuss the exchange of customs documents at major border points among the member countries, development of prior information exchange system with details of import and export goods, use of electronic cargo tracking system, border management and facilitation of cross-border transportation, among others, said Narayan Prasad Regmi, member of the meeting and director of the Department of Customs.

The representatives of the participating countries stressed the need for the use of modern technology and inter-governmental coordination to reduce procedural complexities and delays across the border. The meeting is expected to identify ways to formulate common policies on regional trade, completely digitize customs procedures, develop infrastructure and promote information technology to facilitate trade.

The three-day conference is expected to take regional cooperation in customs and border management to a new height.