Photo: Daniel Perrier, Vice-Minister Philips, Director General Soto, Azael Perez

At the request of the Director General of the National Customs Service of Costa Rica, the WCO dispatched experts to support and facilitate the development of the administration’s Strategic Plan for 2011-2015.

The event was officially opened by Ms. Jenny Philips, Vice Minister of Finance, who recalled the role of Customs in contributing to the country’s development and extolled the importance of strategic planning to ensure sustainable and structured organizational development. In turn, Mr. Desiderio Soto, Director General of Customs, emphasized the need for the management team to come together to define, and progressively build a Customs administration that better contributes to the country’s social and economic development.

Mr. Daniel Perrier, WCO Secretariat, and Mr. Azael Perez, accredited expert from Mexico Customs, facilitated this 5-day planning session that brought together a broad participation from the Costa Rica Customs management team.

The objective of this event, held at the end of March in San Jose, Costa Rica, was to revise the Customs administration’s Mission and Vision statements, and to set out new strategic development objectives for the years to come. The event also got a process underway through which the Costa Rican administration will prepare a detailed strategic plan, including specific strategies and projects that will build the capacity of this organization to better meet its mission.

It is expected this planning process will continue over the coming months and eventually involve a larger number of staff from the administration, as well as representatives from the public and private sectors in Costa Rica. The plan will set out a strategic vision for the future development of the administration through key objectives focusing on the promotion of voluntary compliance, an improved legal and procedures framework, strengthened relations with key partners, as well as ensuring a committed and well-trained workforce. The plan will also focus on building an enhanced management regime and improved information technology and infrastructure.

Through its Capacity Building programmes, the WCO will continue to support the planning process and provide other targeted assistance, as needed. The WCO remains committed to providing adapted support to its Members, and congratulates the Costa Rican Customs administration on its ongoing modernization efforts.