“Asia First” Team including India, Indonesia and Malaysia Launch GCEL’s HumaWealth Asia Benchmark Trade Lane Deployment

YB Dato’ Mukhriz Tun Mahathir, Malaysia’s Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry, Mr. K V Mahidhar, Logistics Institute Head of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Mr. Yugi Prayanto, Vice-Chairman of the Indonesian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) witnessed the official ceremony for the deployment of the HumaWealth Asia Benchmark Trade Lane (BTL), the first of four innovative “Soft-Infrastructure” deployments across the globe.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 31, 2011 -- YB Dato’ Mukhriz Tun Mahathir, Malaysia’s Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry, Mr. K V Mahidhar, Logistics Institute Head of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Mr. Yugi Prayanto, Vice-Chairman of the Indonesian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) witnessed the official ceremony for the deployment of the HumaWealth Asia Benchmark Trade Lane (BTL), the first of four innovative “Soft-Infrastructure” deployments across the globe. GCEL previously executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CII, witnessed by India’s Ministry of Shipping, as well as KADIN for their respective leadership in the Asia BTL. The HumaWealth Program’s Soft-Infrastructure will deliver a new era of 21st century trade efficiency, free of cost to every business throughout the whole world. The Soft-Infrastructure will provide the tools and the road map to reduce Asia’s annual trade costs by USD 194 billion, increase Asian trade by USD 288 billion a year and creating up to 22.1 million manufacturing and service jobs across the region.

The launch of the BTL activities included the signing of an MOU between Malaysia’s Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and the Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics (GCEL) led by YBhg. Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, MDeC’s Chief Executive Officer, and Captain Samuel Salloum, GCEL’s Co-Chairman. This momentous signing signifies MDeC’s and GCEL’s commitment to enhance the development of Malaysia’s e-Commerce landscape by connecting Malaysia’s businesses to global markets through the use of digital Soft-Infrastructure. This signing ceremony was attended by high-ranking officials from Malaysian, India and Indonesia as well as business leaders and industry associations who recognize the value of digital Soft-Infrastructure to make businesses more competitive and sustain economic growth in the 21st century.

Captain Salloum noted: “Soft-Infrastructure goes hand-in-hand with our physical infrastructure towards achieving sustainable global economic growth. It will maximize present physical logistics infrastructure capacity utilization as well as reduce trade costs by 30% and operating costs by 15% thereby generating increased trade volume commitments to attract billions of dollars of infrastructure and foreign direct investment. The reduction of trade and operation costs will also lead to greater business financing, increased exports and support the creation of millions of new jobs.”

YBhg. Datuk Badlisham Ghazali stated: “Our collaboration with GCEL will further enhance MSC Malaysia’s position as an attractive and competitive player in the international market. This knowledge transfer platform will give us best-in-class techniques that have keener focus on operational cost savings. With this in place, Malaysia is poised to save USD 8.9 billion in annual trade costs.”

The Asia BTL will include all parties involved in the shipment process: sellers, buyers, carriers, logistics service providers, ports, customs, banks, insurers, etc. These parties will utilize digital Soft-Infrastructure to improve the efficiency of their daily business operations. The Asia BTL activities will commence with a rigorous and thorough Shipment Efficiency Assessment (SEA) that will measure trade efficiency and security “before” and “after” deployment of the digital Soft-Infrastructure. The SEA will document the current shipment efficiency in India, Indonesia and Malaysia through a comprehensive survey engaging 17 types of trade partner sectors within the shipment supply chain pipeline. Upon utilization of the Soft-Infrastructure within their operations, the trade lane participants and their trusted finance, insurance and technology partners will provide first hand testimony at regional showcase forums of the benefits realized by the use of this innovative digital trade platform.

The MOU between GCEL and MDeC follows the successful completion of GCEL’s Awareness Campaign throughout Asia. As part of its commitment to equal opportunity, GCEL is now embarking on a similar campaign in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), Europe and the Americas. To this end, GCEL recently signed an MOU with the League of Arab States in Cairo as a strategic partner in the HumaWealth Program in MEA, and is finalizing an MOU with the Organization of American States (OAS) for a similar strategic partnership across the Americas.

In all, the GCEL’s HumaWealth Program will assist in re-energizing the global economy leading to global trade cost savings of nearly USD 700 billion annually. It will combine the expertise of developed countries with the youthful labor forces of developing countries thereby creating major global market expansion.

About MDeC
Multimedia Development Corporation Sdn Bhd, or MDeC, is the custodian and implementer of MSC Malaysia, the country’s national ICT initiative. MDeC is focused on ensuring the success of MSC Malaysia and the companies operating in it. Incorporated under the Companies Act of Malaysia, and owned and funded by the Government, MDeC’s role is to advise the Malaysian Government on legislation and policies, develop MSC Malaysia-specific programs and practices, and set breakthrough standards for Malaysia’s ICT industry growth.

MDeC is dedicated to ensuring MSC Malaysia is the world's best environment to harness the full potential of ICT. MDeC is a champion, facilitator and partner. MDeC champions the merits of MSC Malaysia, facilitates the entry of companies into MSC Malaysia and partners with the Government as well as the private sector in realizing a bold national vision.

About GCEL
The Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics (GCEL) is a nonprofit public/private partnership based in Switzerland that brings together governments and the private sector to deliver a tangible program achieving sustainable global economic growth. GCEL’s members and supporters include governments and NGO’s from the Americas, Asia, Europe and Middle East/Africa and also private sector members including finance, technology and insurance firms with a workforce of 2.7 million operating in 130 countries and serving 60% of the world’s GDP.

GCEL’s HumaWealth Program consists of Soft-Infrastructure with three key elements: an open-source information technology platform, a global deployment network of the world’s leading finance, insurance and technology firms, and a rapid global deployment program over 18 months including 4 regional benchmark trade lanes, providing the tools free of cost to the end users. Overall the HumaWealth Program will reduce trade costs by 30% and operating costs by 15% thereby promoting trade growth and sustained economic development.

More information on GCEL can be found at www.gcel.net

Contact:
Mr. Gregory Bird
Global Coalition for Efficient Logistics (GCEL)
Level 45, Tower 2
Petronas Twin Towers
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
+1313-324-6462
pr@gcel.net
http://www.gcel.net

This release was published on openPR.