Dubai Customs, DC, has made a leap of 4.57 percent in the transactions processed in the first half of 2015, reflecting the UAE's stronger economy and growing business and investment appeal.

Around 4.5 million transactions were delivered from January 1st to June 30th, compared to 4.2 million in the same period last year, according to the latest statistics from DC.

The customs transactions for DC customers comprises 19 main services provided through 23 inland, port and airport customs centres distributed all around the Emirate of Dubai.

Ahmed Mahboob Musabih, Director of Dubai Customs, said the mounting growth in the number of delivered transactions echoes the nation's increasing economic performance. "This is a positive indicator for the improving Dubai and UAE economies under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. It strongly confirms that we are on the right path towards achieving the future goals of the emirate set by Dubai Plan 2021," he said.

He added that the surge in transactions is the result of the continued development and improvement strategy implemented by Dubai Customs. "We are keen on regularly assessing our performance across the board to ensure the delivery of superior services and facilitations to customers. The ultimate goal is to provide a real added value to the customers by enabling them to increase returns from their trading operations, promote Dubai's business and investment appeal, and maintain its competitive edge on the global trade landscape."

Musabih affirmed that Dubai Customs works in synergy with all government agencies to achieve the objectives of Dubai Plan 2021 and help Dubai achieve sustainable economic growth.

He also attributed the growth to the continuous upgrade and modernisation of service delivery at Dubai Customs through smart transformation, utilisation of world-class innovative customer service technology as well as continued training of customer-facing staff to ensure the highest levels of performance in processing transactions. As a result, customer satisfaction went up to 91.2% in 2014 compared to 89.2% in 2013, according to a survey carried out by the Executive Council of the Government of Dubai, through an independent consultancy company.

Statistics released by Dubai Customs show that the total number of transactions for "Request for Customs Declaration Clearance" service reached 3.4 million transactions during the first half of 2015 compared to 3.2 million in the same period last year. The total number of "Request for Client Registration" service transactions represented 44,255 requests during the first half of the current compared to 45,546 requests during the same period of 2014.

There was a considerable increase in the total number of transactions for "Request for Guarantees/Deposits Claims and Refunds" service from 488,334 transactions during the first six months of 2014 to 628,455 during this year's second half.

Jumaa Al Ghaith, Executive Director of Customs Development Division at Dubai Customs, said that those transactions have been delivered through 6 channels, including Dubai Trade, B2G and mobile, and smart phone applications. He added that the transformation of Dubai Customs into the first fully smart government entity has made it possible for customers to submit and get their requests processed around the clock wherever they are.

To achieve this ambition, Dubai Customs has set the standard and the basis for other government entities to follow suit when it announced the first 100% smart government department back in October 2013, delivering its entire array of services through smart phones and later smart watches.