APM Terminals has announced that a Port Automation and Digitisation (PAD) project at the Free Port of Monrovia in Liberia is set to significantly improve customers supply chain efficiency and ease of doing business through paperless customs clearance processes and more efficient terminal operations.
Over the past year, the terminal has marked progress in digitalisation process, including online invoicing, issuing digital receipts based on data from real-time bank deposits, and online issue resolution.
At a ceremony to acknowledge the launch of the project, run jointly by the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA) and APM Terminals Liberia, the Minister of Finance & Development Planning, Samuel Tweah, commended APM Terminals Liberia and partners for this historic and transformative initiative.
“Digitising the port comes with numerous benefits to the economy in terms of ease of doing business,” said Tweah, who went on to comment, “This development has the full endorsement and support of His Excellency President George Weah, whose policies has been focused on strengthening our economy to boost trade and business and create opportunities for all. It is in this light that I commend APM Terminals Liberia and partners for launching this initiative and for their collaboration in making sure that we achieve full success with Port Automation and Digitisation.”
This previously manual process of submitting declarations, payments and customs releases has already been reduced significantly through digitisation over the past year, according to APM Terminals, which noted that with full-scale automation and digitisation, the process is expected to be accelerated even further, saving productive hours and bringing convenience to both custom brokers and customers.
Minister of Commerce and Industry Mawine Diggs observed that this new and improved way of doing business at the Free Port will have a positive effect on trade and commercial activities in Liberia as importers are able to clear their goods in good time, less costly and get them onto the market.
Jonathan Graham, managing director of APM Terminals Liberia, which is spearheading the project, stressed the need for even stronger partnerships to successfully roll out the Port Automation and Digitisation project, adding that “this is the only way that the Free Port of Monrovia will be able to transform into a modern port serving Liberia and the sub-region.”
