he global economy is going through a recession caused by the global supply chain disruptions due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and recovery from the reverse shock due to the pandemic. Developing countries, such as Pakistan, face multiple effects of these global shocks.

The politico-economic uncertainty at home has brought Pakistan to a difficult situation and put the economy under pressure. One of the major challenges of the economy is the large trade deficit. While there are other reasons attributed to low exports, imports, transit and re-export, one of the major reasons is the complexity in the international trade transactions, causing uncertainty for the traders and enabling failure to enforce international contracts.

Trade facilitation can help remove this complexity. Trade facilitation is defined in terms of the transparency, simplification, harmonisation and standardisation of procedures related to international trade. With international trade reaching a volume of $28.5 trillion and increased incidence of illegal trade practices, all countries engaged in international trade are trying to come up with laws, policies, regulations, procedures and processes that can ensure a smooth flow of trade goods and other transactions. This creates the complexity in trade procedures causing a need for international trade facilitation.

The World Trade Organisation mentions the national single window as one of the means of facilitating trade in its Article 10 of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. It creates a smooth flow of information, avoids duplication of information and information flow, and allows resource optimisation from the points of view of both the traders and governmental agencies.

Evidence suggests that the mere presence of a single window does not ensure success. It is imperative that the single window is effective. This requires effective goal setting and institutional memory management framework; political consensus and the will to continue working on the political will, multi-tier and inclusive governance and legal framework, effectiveness of stakeholder engagement, financial sustainability and innovative public private partnership-based business model; and focus on effectiveness in terms of the user experience. All these factors enable trade facilitation through a national single window.

Pakistan Single Window was established in 2017 and enabled through an Act of parliament passed in 2021. The PSW has been in operation since 2021. It has made progress in improving the efficiency of cross-border trade in Pakistan. As per the plan, out of the seventy-eight other governmental agencies (OGAs) identified, it has successfully integrated five including Pakistan Customs and Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority.

Additionally, the PSW has a strong integration with the State Bank of Pakistan and 29 commercial banks. The services PSW offers include, but are not limited to, subscription, renewal, single declaration for both exports and imports, electronic import, or export form, and relevant procedures for the integrated OGAs.

This writing argues for continuous improvement strategies for the Pakistan Single Window based on international evidence and consultation with relevant experts.

Research conducted by the SDPI’s Centre for Private Sector Engagement, has shown that the PSW has a positive outlook at the national level. In major cities, the stakeholders are aware of the PSW portal. However, some of the stakeholders are misinformed regarding the scope of its work. This results in negative feedback for the PSW for issues beyond its control and scope.

With a strong governance and legal framework domestically and the WTO’s trade facilitation agreement, the PSW is able to elicit suitable political will from all stakeholders.

The most important aspect for the PSW is an effective institutional memory management framework. This requires an extensive exercise, understanding the need for information and data involving institutional memory management, backing up the data and retrieving it as and when required. This framework will eventually ensure that the goal for which the initiative was started remains intact even when the team has changed.

Keeping in view the legal requirements of the PSW Act, 2021, a lot of information needs to be mentioned on the PSW website. This includes, the strategic planning timelines and the way forward, members engaged at various strategic management stages and the minutes of strategic and governance-related meetings with important discussion and action points.

A strength of the PSW platform is the integration with stakeholders, including the logistic partners. Engagement with other governmental agencies and financial institutions is the hard part worldwide. In order to mitigate the risks, the PSW has started awareness-raising and capacity-building initiatives throughout Pakistan. One of the initiatives, still in the development phase, is the e-Learning platform which brings all the capacity-building requirements of the PSW to an electronic platform and accessible to subscribers around the country.

The PSW is using the most modern software development methodology and tools using Java. Their basic architecture involves three layers, enabling the system to be easy to develop, maintain and troubleshoot. The database utilised is MySQL which is scalable database with data protection and security-related merits. This, coupled with an agile software development approach, is a recipe for success.

The stakeholder appreciation for the PSW system enables it to be a model for all state-owned enterprises through the creation of a sustainable business model. Furthermore, resource optimisation initiatives involving the public-private partnership (PPP) with effective contract enforcement will ensure sustainability of the initiative.

The PSW can also offer consultancy to similar national and international initiatives. The Trade Information Portal of Pakistan is a great initiative from the PSW. It features information regarding cross-border trade including procedural and data-based resources.

The academia need to be engaged to use this data effectively and help in overall continuous improvement. This can be supported by using established networks such as SDPI’s National Network of Economic Think tanks (NNETT).

Two points that PSW-related stakeholders need to consider is that the PSW documents mention that in the governance structure, two advisory bodies and working groups are recommended. One is an OGAs working group and the second a private sector stakeholder advisory committee. Both these bodies should be included as advisory bodies for continuous improvement of the PSW platform at the second tier of the governance structure. This structure will provide strategic inclusivity in decision-making and a continuously improvement PSW platform.

Another aspect that needs to be worked on is the multi-tiered monitoring and evaluation framework. At the top, it should include post-legislative scrutiny; at the lower end, regular appraisal of the platform from the governance-based advisory committees and working groups; and at the user end, regular and extensive user feedback collection exercise.

The PSW is an excellent model for implementation of e-governance. Like other global initiatives, it must include provisions for strategic and operational flexibility for continuous improvement with a focus on making the user experience worthwhile, ensure facilitation for cross-border trade.

The authors are associated with the Sustainable Development Policy Institute’s (SDPI) Centre for Private Sector Engagement. They tweet @ahadnazir783 and @abdullahkhalid, respectively. The article doesn’t necessarily represent the views of the organisation

The PSW is an excellent model for implementation of e-governance. Like other global initiatives, it must include provisions for strategic and operational flexibility and continuous improvement with a focus on making the user experience worthwhile.