Mr Leong Peng Kiong: The vision was not only to develop a system that meets the Kingdom’s current trading needs but one that encourages and broadens trade relations for the future.

CrimsonLogic’s trade facilitation project in Saudi Arabia, SaudiEDI, was awarded second place in the category “Improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the Public Service” at the annual United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) in June. The award is given to companies that demonstrate creativity in their contributions to public service institutions, to elevate the effectiveness of public administration.

Operational since 2005, the SaudiEDI system was commissioned by the Public Investment Fund under the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Finance. The system automates and streamlines the trade documentation processes for the country’s trading community.

“The vision was not only to develop a system that meets the Kingdom’s current trading needs but one that encourages and broadens trade relations for the future,” said Mr Leong Peng Kiong, Chief Executive Officer, CrimsonLogic.

The system establishes a common electronic platform for businesses to operate in, improving the efficiency of trade cycles with significant savings in time, money and resources for governments and businesses. On a macro level, the increased efficiency has also enhanced the Kingdom’s economic competitiveness.

A comparison of the 2006 and 2009 Doing Business Across Borders reports from World Bank revealed that Saudi Arabia has more than halved the time needed for import and export clearances. World Bank’s Trading Across Borders report also ranked Saudi Arabia #16 in 2009, up from #33 in 2007. Actual trade transaction volumes in the Kingdom have also increased dramatically by an average of 250 per cent from year 2001 to 2008.

The Electronic Delivery Order Management service and Electronic Import Declaration Submission service of the SaudiEDI system also won recognition as the 4th and 5th most commonly used e-services out of some 400 government and private sector e-services in Saudi Arabia. The system also received an award of appreciation in the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) eGovernment Awards, in the category of e-economy, which is an acknowledgement of the system’s use of best practice in infocomm technology and its economic contribution to
the nation.