Dubai Customs to develop new operating paradigm

The Dubai Customs Advisory Council, a group of Dubai Customs and business leaders, recently continued to push forward with initiatives to develop the emirate’s customs processes.

The initiatives will serve to bring Dubai’s customs operations to fit the framework of the Dubai Plan 2021– the emirate’s development strategy for the coming years.

One of the main initiatives stresses the importance of customer satisfaction in dealing with Dubai Customs. To that end, Dubai Customs has launched new channels of communication with clients, which have resulted in a 2 percent increase in client satisfaction.

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, director of Dubai Customs and chairman of the advisory council, said during a recent meeting of the council that greater efforts have also been put into measuring how happy customers are with services.

“Dubai Customs has recently launched ‘Mestanis’ campaign - stands for (Are You Happy?) - ... to daily measure the public’s happiness and satisfaction with government services,” Musabih said.

Similar surveys showed a major increase in employee satisfaction, going from approximately 67 percent in 2013 to more than 80 percent in 2014.

The results from measuring overall satisfaction with Dubai Customs are being used to plan new initiatives intended to facilitate and streamline trade flow in Dubai. Musabih is asking Dubai Customs Advisory Council members to be proactive in forming new cost-and-time-saving ideas to make that happen.