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El Salvador Director of
Customs Gustavo Villatoro, and Stephen Flowers, president of UPS
Americas, signed a cooperation agreement in which the government
of El Salvador commits to modify customs procedures to position
El Salvador as an important player in global commerce.
The initiative began in May 2005 when Ana
Vilma de Escobar, El Salvador vice president and president of
PROESA, the government’s investment promotion arm, visited UPS’s
operations in Miami, Florida. She was accompanied by PROESA
Director Patricia Figueroa and the president of CEPA, the
executive committee of the country’s port authority, Juan José
Llort. At that visit, UPS presented its vision of El Salvador
and showed interest in cooperating to improve the country’s
investment conditions. This visit was coordinated by the consul
of El Salvador in Miami, Fernando Quiñónez.
In October 2005, after an analysis of UPS’s
global operations, especially in Taiwan where UPS has its Asia
shipping hub, representatives of PROESA revisited UPS’s Miami
offices with a proposal to establish a competitive customs
clearance system in El Salvador.
Based on this proposal, UPS and El Salvador
made the appropriate modifications to arrive at the agreement in
place. Weeks later, Vilma took the required steps to make sure
all necessary measures were enacted. According to the World
Trade Organization, any agreement between a business and
government entity should be handled by the company and the El
Salvador Customs Department.
After a revision of the agreement by both
UPS and the government, the pact was ready to sign, marking an
historic and record day for El Salvador, which was able to enact
the new customs processes in just four months. Many of the
terms were formalized in a recently approved customs
simplification act.
“At UPS, we are very proud to be part of
this agreement that will streamline and facilitate commerce to
improve El Salvador’s competitiveness,” said Flowers. “We are
committed to our presence in the country and we hope to maintain
a close cooperation with...
...Continued
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