The Ambassador of the European Union to ASEAN, H.E. Igor Driesmans and the Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN Economic Community, H.E. Satvinder Sigh, presented the ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS) Gold Partner awards to two ASEAN logistics companies from Malaysia and Thailand.

Launched on 30 November 2020, the ACTS is an online ASEAN customs system, which enables the private sector in ASEAN to benefit fully from the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the free movement of goods across the ASEAN region. ACTS was developed by ASEAN with the financial support of the European Union under the ARISE Plus programme. “The EU is a proud partner of ASEAN and fully recognises the role of the private sector in making the ASEAN Economic Community a true reality for everyone in the region,” H.E. Igor Driesmans said in his remarks.

During the closing ceremony of the ARISE Plus project in Jakarta, Indonesia, Ambassador Driesmans and H.E. Singh presented the ACTS Awards for Outstanding Companies to City Zone Express Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia and AMAZING Logistics and Supply Chain Co., Ltd, Thailand for the high number of ACTS movements the companies conducted in 2022.

“ARISE Plus has been instrumental in the implementation of the ASEAN Customs Transit System (ACTS), which has reduced costs, increased the speed of border clearance, and facilitated trade between ASEAN Member States,” H.E. Singh said in his opening remarks. “The private sector has benefited significantly, with a 30 to 40 percent reduction in costs when using the ACTS compared to other transit modes available in the region,” he added.

“I would describe ACTS benefits as seamless clearance, faster transit, precise timing and cost reduction,” Mr S. Pirithivaraj Selvarajoo, Director of City Zone Express Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia said. “My motto for ACTS is perfect logistics and digital connectivity for present-day supply chain needs.”

“I discovered under ACTS we can shorten the transit time from Bangkok to Singapore,” Mr Witoon Santibunyarat, Group Managing Director of AMAZING Logistics and Supply Chain Co., Ltd, Thailand said. “It takes only two and a half days. This has never happened before!”

Established on 8 November 2012, the ARISE and its successor ARISE Plus have been the EU’s flagship programme in supporting ASEAN’s economic integration. For over ten years, the project focused its support on four components: Trade Facilitation and Regulatory Transparency, Standards and Conformance, Customs, Transport and Transit, Monitoring and Statistics.

“The success of the ACTS highlights the importance of continued collaboration between ASEAN, ASEAN Member States, ASEAN private sectors and international partners,” H.E. Igor Driesmans added. “As ASEAN’s strategic partner, the EU is committed to continue our support for ASEAN’s integration across all three pillars of the ASEAN Community”.