axway.com
CUSTOMER CASE STUDY
INDUSTRY
Government
GEOGRAPHY
Asia Pacific
CHALLENGE
Swap a paper-based approach
to customs for a swift, secure,
and accurate electronic system.
SOLUTION
Axway B2Bi
RESULTS
ASEAN replaced slow and costly
customs processes with a digital
platform, enabling member states
to rapidly exchange cross-border
cargo documentation.
The Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN)
ASEAN supercharges trade in
Southeast Asia with electronic
transfer for key customs documents
Since 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has strived
to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development
through regional collaboration. Today, ASEAN comprises ten member states:
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore,
Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.
ASEAN knows that fast and efficient trade between its members is a
powerful way to stimulate economic growth. To incentivize intraregional
trade, ASEAN countries have agreed to preferential tariffs for nearly all
locally sourced goods, creating and expanding markets for these products.
However, facilitating the smooth movement of goods within the region
presented some tough challenges. ASEAN's rules required traders to
produce written proof that products were produced in the region before
preferential tariffs could be applied.
Manual processes drive costs
In the past, shipping goods between ASEAN countries depended heavily on
manual, paper-based processes. In some cases, information recorded on
paper customs documents had to be hand-delivered by couriers and then
re-keyed into more than 20 different electronic systems. As well as driving
up the cost and complexity of the shipping process, this manual way of
working dramatically increased the risk of human error. If errors crept into
the paperwork or key documents were missing, containers often needed
to be held at port for up to 14 days — increasing costs further still.
