Capacity Building Workshop – Conducting a feasibility study on cross-border paperless trade: framework and case studies

A trade facilitation and single window expert with over 20 years of experience, with a particular emphasis on customs modernization, integrated risk management, freight forwarding operation and strategic trade management. Aside from his engagement as UN ITC national lead on Integrated Risk Management and the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program, he is the regional adviser of the USAID funded ASEAN Policy Implementation project assisting Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, and the Philippines in complying with their ASEAN trade facilitation commitments. Further, he got engaged by the UN ESCAP as a consultant in developing the Cross-border Paperless Trade feasibility framework. 

Moreover, UNDP Lebanon hired him for fourteen (14) months as an International Logistics Facilitation Expert to support the “Strengthening Arab Economic Integration for Sustainable Development (AEISD)” project. In 2020, he co-authored the study on “Expediting Low Value Shipments in ASEAN” under the ASEAN-USAID IGNITE project covering the ASEAN Member States’ policies and customs procedures on de minimis (category 2) and low value dutiable (category 3) shipments. 

He has been involved in developing the Single Window platforms (regional and national) since 2005 when he worked as part of the of a small group of ASEAN Experts in crafting the ASW Technical Guide, which is annexed to the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) Protocol. In 2009, he led the Laos NSW roadmap development effort and helped draft the Vietnam NSW master plan. On other trade facilitation initiatives, he developed his expertise in implementing customs modernization projects and digitized licensing and permit processing with regulatory agencies during his twelve-year tenure with SGS Far East Ltd, Manila Liaison Office and the Bureau of Customs of the Philippines.

• Head of R&D Center, The K Consulting
• International Consultant, ESCAP, IMO, ADB
• Lecturer, Department of Management Information, Hanyang Cyber University
• Guest Researcher, Engineering Laboratory, System Integration Division, Process Engineering Group, US NIST
• General Manager, R&D Center, KL-Net

Company Name: The K Consulting

• Leading for work automation and standardization to support trade and logistics facilitation of global SCM
• Develop and propose international standard to IMO, UN/CEFACT, etc.
• Develop and operate Information service system and IT solution
• Conduct Korean national R&D project and IMO/ESCAP/ADB project

Sangwon Lim is Economic Affairs Officer, Trade Policy and Facilitation Section, Trade, Investment and Innovation Division of the United Nations ESCAP.  In ESCAP, he specializes in trade facilitation and integration. For trade facilitation, his area of expertise includes implementing paperless trade and Single Window; he has led development of several technical guides and implemented several field projects, based on those guides and his expertise. He has provided numerous advisory services and technical assistance in this area to several developing countries in the region, including Single Window implementation. For trade integration, he has performed the duty of main secretariat for the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA). Before joining ESCAP in 2009, he had served the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) of the Republic of Korea for more than 9 years, specializing in application of ICT in various public and private sector business domains, including international trade, Customs, value-added tax, logistics, public procurement, tourism, etc. He had supported international development of trade facilitation and e-business by actively participating in multiple regional and international platforms, such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Asia-Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT), ebXML initiative, and United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT).  He was the Rapporteur for the Asia and the Pacific in the UN/CEFACT from 2003 to 2009. He holds a Ph.D in logistics management from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. 

Mr Tahseen Ahmad Khan is working around Trade Facilitation, Electronic Governance, Electronic Commerce and Electronic Security at national and international level for about four decades.

At the national level Mr Khan has been working with the Government of India for about four decades at different levels on above referred areas. He has handled major national projects in Trade and Industry sectors, some of which includes Electronic Trade, Electronic Procurement, Electronic Intellectual Property, Net Banking, Secure National and International Transactions, Electronic Commerce Act etc. He was also Head of Trusted Third-Party/ Digital Signature setup of the country.

At the regional level, he is active as an expert for United Nations Cross border Paperless Trade initiative of United Nations Economic andSocial Commission for Asia and the Pacific. He is also a member of the advisory committee on United Nations Network of Experts on Paperless Trade and Transport for Asia and the Pacific (UNNExT). He has also the distinction of holding many other positions like UN/CEFACT Rapporteur for Asia, Chairman of Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business etc.

At the international level, he has been handling multiple activities. He is currently associated in the work program of United Nations Centre forTrade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), Geneva as its Vice Chair. Some of his current active engagements are on major global projects like Ensuring legally significant trusted trans-boundary electronic interaction, International Trade and Mutual recognition, Block Chain forTrade Facilitation, Internet of Things for Trade Facilitation, Artificial Intelligence for Trade Facilitation, Digital Identity for Trade Facilitation, Verifiable Credentials for Cross border trade etc.

Mr. Mah Choong Kean (also known as Alvin C K Mah) is a member of the expert team for the United Nations Network of Experts in Paperless Trade (UNNeXT) for Single Window Masterplanning and Public Private Partnerships. Alvin is a seasoned and well-established Single Window expert in the Customs and Trade industry and with more than 20 years of deep knowledge and exposure particularly with the ASEAN region, South Asia region and Central Asia region. His expertise and experience include economic and sectorial ananlysis (eg. study, research, analysis, design, conceptualisation and policy recommendation, design change management and capacity building plans, business process re-engineering, etc) with respect to National Trade Facilitation Blueprinting for the Government of Myanmar, National Customs Management Services Blueprinting for Government of Syria, E-Commerce Services Blueprinting for Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam, ASEAN Single Window Preparedness Survey for ASEAN Member States, Inter-Agency Task Force for ASEAN Single Window, TEDI Japan (Trade EDI) ASEAN Project for Documentation Exchange (e-ASEAN Project), Gazelle Project (ICF) Africa – Asia Inter-Regional Single Window, CEPT (Common Effective Preferential Tariff) Form D Information Exchange Prototype, Project between Thailand and Malaysia, and Cross Border Exchange Project (supply chain and trade documents information exchange between service providers in East Asia). Currently, Alvin is on assignment with UNESCAP on technical readiness for paperless trade and cross border data exchange. This assignment focuses on the e-trade facilitation facilities like single window, for the countries of Mongolia, Myanmar, Armenia and Uzbekistan.