Dubai, UAE, November 03, 2018:  Dubai Customs carried out 203,650 transactions through its smart channels during the Week witout Service Centers Initiative, which comes in response to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. 

The week-long initiative, led by the Dubai Government’s Department of Finance (DOF) under the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, aims to make Dubai the smartest and happiest city in the world by raising awareness about the benefits of using smart services and systems to process payments and transactions.

There are 48 main services available through smart channels in Dubai Customs. ease of use and convenience are the main attractive factors that encourage clients to turn to the smart option.

Mohammed Ibrahim Al Hashmi, Director of Financial Department commented: “ 'Following a positive response to the ‘A Day Without Service Centers’ last year, we are confident that the week-long initiative will raise awareness about the benefits of accessing our services through digital channels, which are designed to offer businesses an easy, convenient and efficient way to process transactions in fulfilment of the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. In the Day Without Service Centers transactions carried out through smart channels made 90% of the total number of transactions, and 10% were done over the traditional counters. 

Al Hashimi expected 100% transformation to smart channels by 2020 in realization of a paperless government vision by 2021. 

He explained that Dubai Customs was the first department to adopt e-services in 2009 and the first smart department in 2013.