TERENGGANU: The Terengganu Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) has collected RM639 million in taxes as of last September, making it the first state customs department to achieve the target set for this year. Its director, Aidid Tajuddin, said based on the customs Key Performance Index (KPI), the target for the Terengganu office this year was RM565 million, which was achieved on Aug 6, four months ahead of schedule. “Terengganu has achieved remarkable success this year as we have achieved the target collection four months earlier. “Currently, the KPI performance of the Terengganu Customs Department is at 113% with RM639 million collection, which is achieved through collective efforts by all the department personnel,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama here.
Aidid also attributed the success to several factors, including the the Customs Blue Ocean Strategy (CBOS) programme introduced by the customs director-general to strengthen cooperation and resource sharing among officers in the department. “Through this concept, we have created a smart management system where all the customs offices in the state including in Kemaman, Kerteh and Tasik Kenyir, to focus on resource sharing. “The second factor is enforcing customs law and regulations through education as this has forged close relationship with the people, especially with the taxpayers. What we (are) doing is to educate them (to pay taxes),” he said. Aidid said the stable economic situation in Terengganu also contributed to the increase in tax collection. “When the economy is good then the tax collection will be good,” he said, adding that the amount of taxes collected by the department reflected the strong and vibrant economic situation in Terengganu.