DNT Links up with Indon Firm

Published by The Star (Maritime)

DAGANG Net Technologies (DNT) Sdn Bhd has teamed up with PT EDI Indonesia, a leading e-trade service provider, to set up an inter-VAN connectivity for the exchange of import and export documentation between two countries, a move that is expected to improve turn-around time for cargo shipments between Malaysia and Indonesia.

According to Dagang Net Technologies’ chief executive officer, Saifol Bahri Shamlan, last year’s trade volume between both countries stood at a significant RM 19.28 billion with exports totaling RM 11.19 billion and imports at RM 8.09 billion.

A memorandum of agreement was recently sealed by both companies with Dagang Net Technologies Sdn Bhd represented by Saifol and PT EDI Indonesia was represented by its president director Ibnu Pratomo.

The agreement would commit both companies to collaborate and develop an inter-value added network connectivity (Dagang Net and PT EDI Indonesia) to enable speedy and efficient exchange of Customs declaration information for better administrative and effective control purposes.

The combination of both companies' capabilities would enable global shippers, logistics services providers and their overseas trading partners to work collaboratively to optimise supply chain execution in an international context.

They will also benefit from the two companies' shared platforms and complementary underlying technologies which include existing infrastructure such as training, help desk, implementation and research and development, all of which will support the regional alliance agreement.

This connectivity agreement would commit both companies to jointly develop a declaration status and tracking module for Indonesia and Malaysia so that trading communities from both countries would be able to track the same consignment moving between them.

This strategic connectivity agreement would benefit users such as the forwarding agents who can re-use data originating from the source country thus reducing or eliminating the need to duplicate data entry processes.

This in turn would further improve data accuracy and significantly reduce errors in data entry.

It would also serve as an effective and efficient platform for users to check the status of their consignment through a common tracking window.

“This cross border initiative with Indonesia is all part of our spearheading initiatives aimed at creating a paperless e-Customs regime to facilitate and streamline trading processes in this region.

“We have led Malaysia in electronic initiatives since 1989, notably with the introduction of Sistem Maklumat Kastam – DagangNet (SMK DagangNet), a very sophisticated simplified procedure system.

“Since we have gathered adequate experience and are significantly ahead of others, we want the maritime & logistics sectors in this part of the region to similarly embrace the best of SMK-DagangNet’s experience,” said Saifol.

He said Dagang Net’s ultimate initiative is to greatly simplify import and export procedures worldwide, through an electronic messaging system between Customs authorities.

The intention is, where possible, for the same data to be used for both the export and import declarations, thus simplifying import procedures substantially.

Internationally agreed uniform data sets will be transmitted using standard electronic messages based on the UN-EDIFACT (United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration Commerce and Transport) or new ISO ebXML formats.

Among the key objectives is to promote an increased partnership approach between Asian businesses and its respective Customs authorities where compliant businesses can benefit from simplified customs procedures to give these exporters and importers the competitive edge in international trade.

He added that the partnership has come into being following the increased market demand that both companies have seen for e-commerce services that combine their respective offerings - duty management and extended supply chain execution.

“We are pleased to formalise this strategic regional alliance with PT EDI Indonesia. It complements our extended supply chain execution solution. While our many regional customers can continue to depend on SMK-DagangNet to help them meet their duty management and customs compliance obligations, this partnership will enable us to meet our clients' demands for other supply chain execution activities.”

“We will be leveraging highly complementary, best-of-class supply chain execution solutions to deploy an application suite with tremendous breadth and depth.

“The result is technology that will deliver superior control, predictability and responsiveness for transportation providers and enterprise shippers across the global supply chain,” he said.

This is Dagang Net Technologies' second collaborative effort with a regional counterpart to develop more value-added services to enhance and grow cross-border trade.

It was only two months ago in February 2004 that the company inked a similar agreement with South Korea’s KTNET to offer the same cross border initiative. KTNET is a leading e-company in Korea specializing in the provision of electronic trade service and various trade-related services ranging from customs clearance and logistics to settlement.

In March, to step up paperless export and import documentation, Dagang Net rolled-out value-added services called MyPorts to speed up international trading processes electronically.