Axway powers single window pilot

   Axway, which develops cloud-based software, has announced Nathan Associates has picked the company’s business-to-business integration (B2Bi) service to run a single window pilot program.
   The pilot is being put into place by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The goal of the single window is to reduce the time needed to process import and export documents, allowing businesses to operate more efficiently. ASEAN also said it expects the program to boost the region’s manufacturing.
   The project, called the Asian Single Window (ASW), has gained support from the U.S. Agency for International Development and State Department through its ASEAN Development Vision to Advance National Cooperation and Economic Integration program.
   “For growing free trade zones, where speed to delivery and visibility into the entire import/export process is so critical, single window programs have the potential to serve as the backbone of economic growth,” said Paul French, vice president of product and solutions marketing at Axway.
   The electronic single window will allow companies and their representatives to submit import and export data only once among all the nations participating. Axway said seven of the 10 ASEAN nations are taking part in the ASW pilot: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
   The data will cover submissions ranging from the cross-border exchange of transaction data to the harmonization and standardization of electronic submissions to process and clear shipments, allowing the ASW program to provide a secure and easy-to-use framework for communication among the national windows as well as companies involved in the trade.
   “The successful single-window implementation is dependent upon a secure infrastructure and intuitive dashboards, alerts and end-to-end visibility,” said Rachid Benjelloun, chief of party for Nathan Associates. “With this infrastructure in place, traders in ASEAN member states will be able to significantly speed up time-to-market and become more competitive in the global marketplace.”
   Axway said that while the single window was a test for the ASEAN countries, a successful pilot will also help it promote its B2Bi service for future single window projects.
   Nathan Associates, an economic consulting firm, manages five ASEAN projects that are funded by USAID and the State Department.
   More information about the ASW project can be found here. – Geoff Whiting