TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Tuesday (Sept. 10) that it would invest approximately NT$1.2 billion (US$37 million) for its five-year digital customs plan to speed up goods clearance.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Customs Administration Deputy Director General Chen Shih-feng (陳世鋒) said new trading patterns such as cross-border e-commerce have emerged, leading to a significant increase in import and export declarations over the past decade. Chen also cited the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade agreement as a reason to invest more in customs.
The Customs Administrations will improve hardware and upgrade information systems to expedite cargo clearance and help businesses save costs, Chen said, per CNA.
According to Chen, the plan will be implemented in four phases from 2025 to 2029:
- Development of a new exchange platform
- Smart clearance services for express cargo
- Cloudification of the mainframe architecture
- Establishment of a comprehensive off-site backup system
Chen added that the single-window system provides 24/7 cross-agency clearance and approval services, processing over 300 million applications annually and collecting taxes exceeding NT$600 billion. He said he hopes the investment can make Taiwan’s customs secure, resilient, and smart.
