On April 30, 2018, IOS Partners was contracted by the Afghanistan Customs Department / Ministry of Finance and the World Bank to provide consulting services for Conducting Feasibility Study for Implementing Afghanistan National Single Window (ANSW) and for Preparing Afghanistan Trade Information Portal (ATIP) for the Government of Afghanistan.
The overall objective of this project was to assist the Afghan Customs Department Team, responsible for implementing the Afghanistan National Single Window and Trade Portal to:
- Update and develop as necessary the functional, technical and operational requirements for the ANSW such that the implementation and operational services may be established, implemented and procured expeditiously; and
- Understand and plan for the business process and procedural changes necessary across stakeholder agencies in the Government of Afghanistan (GoA).
The specific scope of the assignment was divided into the following task clusters:
- Legal and Regulatory framework for the ANSW
- Governance and Operational Model for the ANSW
- Technical and Functional Architecture and specification for the ANSW System
- Business Process Streamlining and Simplification; Change Management and Communications strategy and plan for the ANSW, including the preparatory work for the establishment of the Afghanistan Trade Information Portal
- Design of an Implementation and Capacity Building strategy and plan for the ANSW, the ANSW Operating entity, participating Agencies and Traders.
IOS Partners has undertaken a systematic and thorough review of the legal and regulatory framework for the ANSW and provided recommendations on what action should be taken in the future, proposed potential governance and operational models for the ANSW taking into consideration international best practices and case studies in relation to governance and operational framework, developed the functional and technical architecture for the ANSW and ATIP in line with best practices and industry trends in technology and infrastructure platforms, and provided recommendations to streamline and simplify business processes for automation, standardization and harmonization of similar business processes and procedures.
The change management and communications strategy and plan for the implementation of the ANSW was also developed to support the implementation of the ANSW. This activity also included the development of a monitoring and evaluation framework to gauge the effectiveness of the strategy on an on-going basis during implementation.
The capacity development plan was designed and developed with specific attention to the development of skills necessary in the operating entity to operate and manage the ANSW and the Implementation Plan was designed and developed based on the recommendations provided for all project components proposing the organizational structures and interim governance mechanisms to carry out the implementation of the ANSW.
