On Thursday 15 August 2013, Professors Joseph Weiler and Michael Ewing-Chow, CIL colleagues and some of the World Trade Law class from the Faculty of Law visited PSA International and were shown around the Port of Singapore. Mr Terence Tan, Head of Legal, PSA International and his colleagues explained the work of PSA’s lawyers in facilitating trade through port efficiency in Singapore and around the world. Mr Matthias De Saedeleer, Senior Executive, Group Corporate Affairs, then brought the group for a tour of the port and explained how the computerization of the port terminal operations (CITOS™) allows Singapore to maintain its competitive edge as the largest transshipment port in the world. The group was also able to visit the control centre of the port and to observe how the crane operators were able to remotely operate the cranes and efficiently monitor the movement of containers around the port from a single control room. The movement of goods in and out of the Singapore port is also facilitated by computerizing the documentary requirements of shippers and traders through Singapore’s Portnet™ and Tradenet™ systems. Trade facilitation is a major focus for the upcoming 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali in November 2013. The World Economic Forum estimates that reducing trade barriers and inefficiencies can increase global GDP by about 4.7 percent.
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