Zambian and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) Saturday in a bid to beef up cooperation in customs collection at Kasumbalesa border post and consequently promote trade between the two countries.

Signing the MOU in Ndola, capital city of Copperbelt province, Zambia Revenue Authority commissioner Kingsely Chanda was quoted by Zambia's official news agency as saying the agreement was necessitated by problems being experienced at the border post in the clearing of goods.

He said the Zambian government was not able to clear as much traffic as they intended because of the congestion at the border, adding that trucks were being delayed for two weeks to a month for clearing.

The situation, Chanda said, was affecting trade between the two countries adversely as Kasumbalesa was an important border post where an average of about 150 million kwacha (50,000 U.S. dollars) was collected per month.

He said it was for this reason that customs institutions of the two countries drafted the MOU that would put in place measures to promote trade.

Some of the major objectives of the MOU are to allow for accurate exchange of information to facilitate the swift transmission of data between the customs institutions and to impose strict controls at the border against fraud.

Customs officials from the DRC witnessed the signing of the MOU, saying their government would work tirelessly to ensure that the MOU would be operationalized as soon as possible.

Source: Xinhua