Trial session on ASW starts on Thursday with Malaysia

The government is trying out a one-stop licensing system with two other Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia and the Philippines, as part of the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) project.

"We have been testing out the system with the Philippines since mid-September, and we will test the system with Malaysia on Oct. 15," the Trade Ministry's director for export and import facilitation Ahmad Syafri said Monday.

"We will exchange data [with the Philippines and Malaysia] to expedite licensing processes."

The project, which is aimed to expedite goods clearance process in exports and imports, binds Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam and Thailand to integrate with the system by 2009.

Meanwhile, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam have time until 2012 to enact the ASW system.

Singapore, however, has declined to join the other ASEAN members in the system.