The Slovakian government will receive a $2m grant from the British Know-How Fund to finance the costs of developing and implementing software to automate the country’s customs administration. The ‘no strings attached’ aid scheme, popular locally, was instituted by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to help post-communist countries. According to local press reports, the European Union has agreed to finance the purchase of the necessary computer hardware through the Phare programme. The project, which will run for 18 months, will automate customs declaration procedures, auditing functions, tariff management and collation of Slovakia’s foreign trade statistics.
