Validation Workshop of the National Trade Facilitation Roadmap for the Maldives

The national roadmap for trade facilitation for the Maldives is the result of an advisory effort by the NTFC and trade facilitation stakeholders of Maldives with the technical assistance from UNCTAD. It provides the framework for a national reform programme on trade facilitation over a period of five years (2023-2028) and includes a single vision, supported by specific, measurable, and logically adopted objectives and activities. 

From August 6 to 10, 2023, UNCTAD conducted an in-person workshop in Malé to initiate the development of the National Trade Facilitation Roadmap 2023-2028 for the Maldives. Throughout the week, NTFC members and trade facilitation stakeholders from various public and private sector agencies received training on how to develop a national trade facilitation roadmap and actively collaborated to define the vision statement, goals and activities of the roadmap, along with their corresponding indicators, responsible agencies, implementation schedule, priority levels, risks, assumptions and required resources. 

They continued reviewing and updating the roadmap components through online meetings with UNCTAD's support throughout 2023 and 2024. In the upcoming validation workshop, participants will conduct a final review of each component, discuss strategies for monitoring and resource mobilization, verify the roadmap is fully incorporated into the Reform Tracker tool, and formally present the National Trade Facilitation Roadmap 2023-2028 to senior officials from the NTFC for official validation. 

This project has the financial support of both the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland acting through HM Revenue and Customs.