PSA International and Global eTrade Services Asia, a fully owned subsidiary of digital solutions provider CrimsonLogic, have entered into a partnership for the development of a trade and supply chain platform called CALISTA.

According to the two companies, CALISTA, which stands for Cargo Logistics, Inventory Streamlining & Trade Aggregation, is intended to facilitate trade and help shippers better manage the movement of goods, trade financing and compliance. The platform brings together the key physical and non-physical activities of the logistics industry into a digital ecosystem which will serve the entire community.

“I am excited by the possibilities that CALISTA can open up across the global supply chain – greater cargo flow visibility and improved coordination benefits everyone, from manufacturer to consumer,” said Tan Chong Meng, group CEO of PSA. “PSA believes that a global platform like CALISTA will be the catalyst for breakthroughs in realizing the full benefits of global supply chain digitalization. Developed as an open platform, it will be instrumental in fostering closer collaboration amongst manufacturers, LSPs and other stakeholders. CALISTA will benefit from the strong synergies between PSA’s domain knowledge and physical assets which handle a large volume of cross border trade, and GeTS’s capabilities in digital trade connectivity services.”

CALISTA helps to reduce supply chain inefficiencies by interacting with systems and applications of various stakeholders. It streamlines processes, documents and data within and across regions. Stakeholders will benefit from the reduction of data duplication, automated handshakes across nodes, improved authenticity of data flow and access to accurate and up-to-date status visibility.

CALISTA will be built progressively, with the first major phase of development estimated to cost S$20 million (US$15 million). The first product is now open to selected trial users.

“We are proud to be the developer of CALISTA and to work with PSA as the principal partner for this new digital ecosystem,” said Eugene Wong, chairman of CrimsonLogic and GeTS. “We also welcome the participation of other co-developers and partners for CALISTA to make the platform even more robust in this era of digital economy. With our established 30-year track record in developing trade facilitation systems, we are confident that we will deliver a pace-setting platform that powers global trade, making trade more accessible, predictable and easier.”