Trade centre in pipeline at Kasumbalesa
By BUSINESS REPORTER A MODERN trade centre at Kasumbalesa border which will serve transporters who may not wish to transport goods into Congo will soon be introduced by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).
ZRA commissioner general, Kingsley Chanda, said the centre will be an internationally accepted trade facility and that it would transform trade flows by effec- tively facilitating doing business without unnecessary delays.
The commissioner said in an interview that talks to put up the facility at the border post among key stakeholders had advanced and the centre would be launched soon.
“This trade centre will accord a chance to the transporters to offload their goods on the Zambian side and allow importers from Congo to collect their goods using own transport.
“Some of our transporters in Zambia and indeed those from the sub region have expressed the need for this facility as they may not want to drive their trucks right into the Congo,” said Mr. Chanda.
He explained that the need for a modern trade facility at the border was necessitated by the need to ease doing business especially for transporters who may not want to transport their goods into Congo, and their counterparts from Congo who may not wish to travel beyond Zambia.
Meanwhile, Mr Chanda recently made a surprise visit to the border post to ascertain the causes of delays at the port of entry.
While there, Mr. Chanda reiterated the need for all border agencies to work together and ensure passengers and truckers spend the shortest time at Kasumbalesa. Mr Chanda pledged the authority’s resolve to continue working hard at reducing the amount of time spent at the facility by all those transiting through.
“I decided to come here so that I can see for myself what is happening because recently we have been receiving complaints from the public about prolonged times spent at our facilities.
“From what we have gathered it is very clear that the delays are often as a result of our people not knowing or understanding the procedures and in some cases, attempts to circumvent the ZRA and legal process of doing business,” he said.
Mr. Chanda was however confident that the unity that existed at the border among all agencies would continue to facilitate trade between the two countries and help the two economies get bigger and better.