From left to right: Kamran Amin, Group Finance Head, AICT; Ahsan Sarwar, Executive Director, AICT; Aruna Hussain, Area Managing Director, Maersk Pakistan; Hassan Faraz, Area Custom Experience Manager, Maersk Pakistan; Wajeeh Uddin Ahmed, Area Sales Manager, Maersk Pakistan

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AL-HAMD International Container Terminal (AICT) takes concrete steps towards offering higher visibility and safe & secure digital documentation for its customers moving import and export cargo in and out of Pakistan

Karachi, 19 July 2021: AICT, one of Pakistan’s important container terminals in Karachi, has become the first inland depot operator in Pakistan to join TradeLens, a blockchain-powered digital container logistics platform. AICT is also the first network partner for TradeLens in Pakistan, thus leading the digitization journey of Pakistan’s container logistics and supply chain ecosystem.

TradeLens brings together data from the entire global supply chain ecosystem. This data allows TradeLens and its network partners to modernize manual and paper-based documents by replacing them with blockchain-enabled digital solutions.

AICT, located in Pakistan’s biggest industrial zone (S.I.T.E), is a well-connected container terminal in Karachi responsible for 70% of off-dock trade taking place through the port. Customers moving import and export cargo through AICT will be able to make full use of the solutions provided on the TradeLens platform such as Electronic Bill of Lading (eBL) and TradeLens products that offer true end-to-end visibility in addition to digital documentation.

 “Our motto at AICT is ‘Logistics through innovation, dedication, and technology. Joining TradeLens is a step in the right direction for us in moving closer to our vision of leading the digital change in Pakistan’s logistics ecosystem" said Ahsan Sarwar Executive Director, AICT.

We strongly believe that this will be a game-changer for our customers, opening opportunities for them to take critical decisions that will help them save cost and manage supply chains with most accuracy - Ahsan Sarwar, Executive Director, AICT.

“With the TradeLens platform, we are providing transit visibility across permissioned stakeholders through the journey of the cargo from origin to destination as well as safe and secure digital documentation. AICT has taken the first step and as more carriers, ports, customs authorities, shippers, and other logistics partners join this journey, we will be able to strengthen digitization and transform the way we do logistics globally,” said Thomas Sproat, Head of Network Development, GTD Solution Inc., and the TradeLens Platform.   

TradeLens is a neutral platform which utilizes data from shippers and cargo owners, 3PLs and freight forwarders, intermodal operators, customs and government authorities, ports and terminals, and several ocean carriers. This data along with digital documentation helps all the stakeholders in the supply chain with in-depth visibility for taking informed decisions and move towards highly efficient process that are no more manual, paper-based.

“AICT joining TradeLens is a great development towards digitizing logistics in Pakistan. As more and more partners join the network, the whole logistics ecosystem will start transforming into an efficient system that will benefit everyone involved. TradeLens can play a game changing role for the country and has the potential to be an integral part of Pakistan Single Window project. We look forward to more stakeholder in other parts of the supply chain to join the network and together work towards digitized future of Pakistan’s logistics” said Aruna Hussain, Managing Director, Maersk Pakistan. Maersk is one of the largest shipping and logistics companies in Pakistan. As an initial developer of the TradeLens platform along with IBM, Maersk has also played a fundamental role in enabling the onboarding of AICT on TradeLens network.

The TradeLens ecosystem now includes more than 300 organizations – encompassing ten ocean carriers and data from more than 600 ports and terminals. TradeLens has already processed 42 million container shipments, nearly 2.2 billion events and some 20 million documents. In total, five of the top six global shipping carriers are now integrated onto the platform contributing to the digitization of documentation and automated workflows.

About TradeLens 

TradeLens is an open and neutral industry platform underpinned by blockchain technology, supported by major players across the global shipping industry. The platform promotes the efficient, transparent and secure exchange of information in order to foster greater collaboration and trust across the global supply chain.