Abu Dhabi, 27-28 May 2015
Article provided by the ROCB of the MENA region
Under the auspices of the Regional Office for Capacity Building of MENA region, and with the support of Abu Dhabi Customs Administration, the 9th meeting of the MENA working group in charge of setting up the regional training plan 2015-2016, was held in Abu Dhabi on 27 and 28 May 2015, with the participation of the World Customs Organization (Capacity Building Directorate), Bahrain Customs ( Vice-Chair Office), Saudi Customs (Regional Training Center in Riyadh), the Egyptian Customs (Regional Training Center in Alexandria) and Jordan Customs(Training Department).
This annual meeting is organized within the framework of the recommendations issued at the Directors General Regional Meeting, in order to coordinate and support the regional customs cooperation efforts and initiatives in the field of training and Human Resources Development, as well as to strengthen alignment with the WCO activities, according to the regional strategic plan goals 2014-2016.
According needs expressed by the members and which are of a regional interest, the working group has drafted a regional training plan for the period 2015-2016, with a new synergy under the theme of "trade facilitation", taking into account the international trade context and to support the commitment of Customs in facing the current challenges in the implementation of the WCO instruments related to the provisions of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The meeting was also an opportunity to exchange experiences and learn more about the tools and instruments of the World Customs Organization in terms of training and human resources development, including the framework of Principles and Practices of Customs Professionalism, the new WCO evaluation methodology for the regional training, WCO training tools such as e-learning modules, training materiel and its translation to Arabic, train the trainers and the accreditation of expert trainers in the region. The drafted regional training plan with the meeting recommendations will be submitted for approval to the Directors General of Customs at their upcoming meeting, scheduled for 10th June 2015, in Brussels at WCO Headquarters.