LAHORE: The government aims to establish the state-of-the-art facilities at the Wagah border crossing point under the Integrated Transit Trade Management System (ITTMS) project.
The ITTMS project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council in September 2015 and is being executed under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation-Regional Improving Border Services (Carec-Ribs).
The government will spend Rs255.38million during the current fiscal year for ITTMS which will be run under the Asian Development Bank’s Ribs Project with the foreign assistance of Rs155.38m.
The total cost of the project has been estimated at Rs31.6billion including a foreign assistance component of Rs26billion. The project will help upgrade the infrastructure at the border crossing points in the context of Carec Corridor and allow the modern supply chain to support the trade. The project also includes development of one-window ICT based systems and procedures.
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is the executing agency and a project management unit has been established within the board to act as project owner. The FBR has been providing guidance and oversight to the overall implementation and performance of the project.
The project aims to ensure proper exit of outbound cargo, keep check on the backward flow of goods, decrease smuggling by keeping a strict check on passengers’ baggage, allow one-window operations at country and regional level and pave the way for introduction of Authorized Economic Operators.