Malaysia-based Zetrix AI Berhad, formerly known as MY E.G. Services Berhad, and the Federation of Malaysian Freight Forwarders (FMFF) have reaffirmed their commitment to jointly drive the full adoption of digital cross-border trade processing — beginning with the implementation of digital Certificates of Origin (COs) for trade between Malaysia and China.
This collaboration will support the full digitalization of customs clearance between the two economies on the blockchain through the ZTrade platform, the duo said in a statement on Tuesday.
A Certificate of Origin is a legal document used in international trade to certify the country of origin of products.
It typically contains details about the exporter, the goods, and their originating country, and bears the official stamp of the issuing authority.
With government approval in place, the processing of COs for trade between Malaysia and China will now go fully paperless — powered end-to-end by the blockchain-based ZTrade platform.
Through earlier agreements with relevant Chinese state authorities, Zetrix AI has already secured recognition to establish an authorized real-time connection via ZTrade with the General Administration of Customs China.
This integration enables seamless digital trade processing for both inbound and outbound transactions involving China.
Following the memorandum of understanding signed last year to promote the adoption of ZTrade, Zetrix AI — as the service provider — and FMFF — representing the end-users — are now reaffirming their joint commitment to drive full implementation, marking another key step forward in accelerating the nation’s trade digitalization agenda.
“FMFF fully endorses the Government’s decision to introduce digital Certificates of Origin for cross-border trade with China,
“In light of this positive development, we will onboard all FMFF members onto the ZTrade platform, as this blockchain-based system will expedite customs processing, reduce clearance time, and lower overall transaction costs — benefitting the entire cross-border trade ecosystem,” said Dr. Tony Chia, President of FMFF.
Support for digital COs between Malaysia and China marks only the beginning for ZTrade, which aims to evolve into a comprehensive global digital trade ecosystem.
In line with this vision, Zetrix AI and FMFF plan to broaden their collaboration to include additional types of Certificates of Origin and other critical trade documents in the future.
Millions of COs are issued annually by each Customs agency to enable the computation of import tariffs.
“This milestone represents another significant step in our mission to establish a digital cross-border trade platform aligned with the United Nations’ vision,
“We remain committed to continuously developing and enhancing this platform to reduce the cost of cross-border trade and improve transparency and traceability,” said TS Wong, Group Managing Director of Zetrix AI.
It is noted that in a white paper, the United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CeFACT) has underscored the role of blockchain in trade facilitation, highlighting its advantages in improving both the efficiency and security of global trade.