KARACHI: Pakistan Customs celebrated the World Customs Day with befitting manner at different Customs formations in major cities like Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and other parts of the country on January 26th. In a message Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that it was indeed a day to appreciate the performance of Pakistan Customs in establishing the writ of national and international laws relating to cross-border trade, controlling illicit trafficking, facilitating economic integration, and collecting revenue for the exchequer. He added that it was also a day to evaluate the performance of Pakistan’s Customs authorities against global benchmarks and assess how to improve the outcomes in terms of transparency, facilitation and creation of a conductive environment for entrepreneurial initiative. He congratulated Pakistan Customs and Federal Board of Revenue on the progress they made so far. Pakistan Customs Chief Collector Zahid Khokar, in the national flag hoisting ceremony at the Customs House, inaugurated the event. Customs additional, deputy and assistant collectors, principal appraisers and guests from corporate and other sectors also attended the event. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said digitising Customs was the way to achieve efficient service deliveries, eradicating corruption and securing government’s revenue through the successful control of international borders. Ishaq Dar said that it was heartening that Pakistan Customs made a significant progress in the digital innovation as automated cargo clearance system across the country had considerably reduced time for cargo clearance and eventually helped reducing the cost of doing business. The establishment of electronic data interface with Afghanistan and China would also expand the country’s economic ties with the neighbouring countries, he added. Ishaq hoped that the Pakistan Customs and Federal Board of Revenue would continue on the path of reforms and modernisation. He said digitalising Customs is like opening doors to better, bright future for Pakistan. Federal Board of Revenue Chairman Nisar Muhammad Khan was the chief guest at the certificate distribution ceremony and also visited the newly built Eduljee Dinshaw Road that aimed to provide a safe access to the importers and exporters besides the visitors to the Karachi Port. In Mauripur, smuggled and contraband foreign goods along with other contraband items were bulldozed to challenge the anti-smuggling activities by the Pakistan Customs The Custom House on the occasion was decorated to mark the World Customs Day. Similar programmes were held to mark the Day at Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and other Customs formations in the major cities of the country. In Lahore a flag hoisting ceremony was held at Custom House on Nabah Road. The contraband goods were destroyed near Wagah Border. Federal Board of Revenue Member Nasir Masroor Ahmad said that many developing nations were making the most of ICT advantage to modernise institution, both public and private, for efficient service delivery and catalyse economic development but Pakistan too had its own success story to tell. Nisar Masroor thanked the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, USID, JICA, UNODC, DFID, GIZ and IFC, who stood shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan Customs, in the spirit of the International Customs Day.