Kewill speeds trade in Turkey through integrated customs deal with Ulukom

Kewill (LSE: KWL), Ulukom Computer, a leading Turkish software solutions provider to logistics, customs and foreign trade companies, has signed an agreement with Kewill to integrate its local customs application with Kewill’s CustomsXchange and to act as a Kewill reseller.

The innovative Kewill CustomsXchange is a messaging hub that takes care of the technical and administrative issues associated with connecting to multiple customs authorities through local application partners in different countries. It streamlines communication between the import/export community through providing a single point of connectivity, enabling appropriate security and customs declaration information to be shared automatically with the local customs bodies in different countries.

Erkin Findik, General Manager at Ulukom Computer, states: "We are delighted to be a part of the Kewill CustomsXchange partner network and our support desk is manned by a team of experts that are gearing up to handle the additional customs transaction volumes that will be delivered over time. In addition, we see a major reselling opportunity for Kewill CustomsXchange in Turkey where many organisations are today exporting to or importing from a number of different countries."

Ulukom has offices in Istanbul and already provides its local customs application to over 600 customers whilst remaining the largest IT vendor in Turkey to provide local customs software applications. Since 1988, Ulukom has been ranked amongst the top 100 IT and top 500 ICT companies in Turkey in market surveys. Currently, more than 600 customs, foreign trade and shipping companies use the Ulukom Customs Procedures module.

Jacquie Boast, COO, Kewill plc, comments: "This is a logical step for us as Turkey is a major potential market for Kewill; and since Ulukom is a member of the European Alliance of customs-related service providers, EurTradeNet (www.eurtradenet.com), we were already in close contact. Through this partnership with Ulukom, we are moving a step forward with our strategy for the Kewill CustomsXchange and are now in a position to offer our customers a simple customs solution for trading with Turkey."

In addition to air and sea exports and imports, Turkey also has a high volume of customs declarations due to road transportation to and from Bulgaria."At the beginning of 2012, Turkey launched a new security program that is similar to the Import Control System (ICS) in the EU."

The CustomsXchange system was specifically designed to monitor and manage existing and new global declarations such as this, enabling organisations to acheive compliance wherever in the world they import and export to and from.