Geneva, 11 April 2011

Upon invitation by the Worldbank, the Deputy Director Capacity Building, Heike Barczyk, participated in a meeting of International Organizations, Development Banks and bilateral donors at the WTO premises in Geneva on 11 April 2011.

The meeting focused on discussions on enhancing cooperation, coherence and information sharing between participants in the delivery of trade facilitation related experience. The Deputy Director provided some information on WCO Capacity Building work and tools in the area as well as on the intended pilot project of the so-called Project Map Database in the WCO Americas and Carribean Region, a virtual tool to exchange information on past, present and future Capacity Building projects. This pilot project will also be presented in Brussels during the upcoming Capacity Building Committee on 03-05 May.

There was general consensus among participants that further co-ordination and information sharing should take place on all levels - nationally, regionally and globally. Eventually, the ongoing discussions between participants are intended to lead to some more concrete proposals to the G20 countries.