Ministry of Trade to open satellite office at the port

The Ministry of Trade and the Antigua Port Authority are joining hands to make
doing business at the country’s main seaport more efficient and customer-friendly.
To this end, the ministry is opening an office at the port in the new Antigua Port
Authority Building. Both Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade,
Ambassador Clarence Pilgrim, and Port General Manager, Darwin Telemaque said
the move is to make it easier for users of the port to have all their documentation
processed at the same place.
Under the arrangement, persons needing licenses for certain imports need not
travel to Friar’s Hill Road to the ministry’s headquarters to have them signed but
can now do so in the port authority building. “This will eliminate the running
around and will save the customer time and money and make our port operations
much more efficient,” Telemaque stated.
Pilgrim said the new office will accommodate representatives from the licensing
section, the Bureau of Standards, and the Consumers Affairs division of the
ministry.
“The Ministry of Trade has entered into a partnership with the Antigua Port
Authority to make it easier for customers to access the services that we offer. By
opening the office, we will be able to process documentation much faster to the
overall benefit of all involved,” he remarked.
The move is expected to benefit large, medium, or small importers of items into
the country. Ambassador Pilgrim said opening the satellite office at the port forms
part of the newly established National Trade Council (NTC), to seek ways to
improve the efficiencies of the Ministry of Trade. He noted that the NTC will have
its first meeting in September but already, it has begun the work for which it was
established.
Telemaque added that the Inland Revenue Department will also set up an office at
the port that will save truckers much time in securing licenses to operate on the
nation’s roadways.
The overall benefits will improve Antigua and Barbuda’s overall ‘Ease of Doing
Business’ ranking. “We are likely to move a few notches higher with these moves
as they make our port operations much more efficient,” he added.