Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2023-01-23

Implementation of an e-License System for the Department of Imports and Exports Control

- Generally, the Department of Imports and Exports Control issues around 17,000 licenses in a year and that process functions with a minimal technical support and a very high intervention. It has been found the necessity of introducing information technology methodologies in order to implement the said license issuance process more efficiently and with a minimal human intervention. As such, it has been planned to enhance the transparency and efficiency of the said process by automating the aforementioned process with the participation of Regulatory Authorities relevant with the licensing process such as the Sri Lanka Customs, Department of Excise, Department of Motor Traffic as well as the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, National Medicines Regulatory Authority and the Sri Lanka Standard Institute. For the purpose, the Bureau of the Export Control and Related Border Security Programme (EXBS) operated under the Embassy of the United States of America has extended its willingness to grant the STRATLINK information technology programme worth of US$ 280,000 with the complete source code to the Department of Imports and Exports Control as a donation. Accordingly, the proposal made by the Hon. President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies to implement the e-License programme of the Department of Imports and Exports Control, was approved by the Cabinet.