WCO Secretary General visits President of the African Development Bank in Tunisia
17 November 2009
Report
WCO Secretary General, Kunio Mikuriya, visited President Donald Kaberuka of the African Development Bank (AfDB) at its headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia on 17 November 2009 to discuss the way forward to enhance cooperation between the two organizations in support of Customs reform in Africa.
President Kaberuka suggested that as the AfDB had started to increase its profile in trade facilitation he wished to work more closely with the WCO. He also referred to the need to fight against fake drugs in Africa. Mr. Mikuriya explained the WCO vision and capacity building programme including the Customs-business partnership, the revenue package, and the strengthened assistance for regional integration to secure and facilitate trade in Africa.
Both the Secretary General and the President found great potential for collaboration and agreed to develop a Memorandum of Understanding identifying areas of cooperation in support of economic development in Africa through Customs modernization.
The Secretary General’s visit to the AfDB coincided with his participation at a meeting of the Global Facilitation Partnership that was being co-hosted in Tunis where he was invited to deliver a keynote address.