Melaka, Malaysia
24-28 February 2014
- Article kindly provided by Mr. Yoshihiro Kosaka, Head of ROCB A/P -
The WCO and the Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P), in cooperation with Malaysia Customs, organized the first WCO Asia Pacific Regional Workshop on Resource Mobilization at the Regional Training Center in Melaka, Malaysia from 24 to 28 February 2014 under the sponsorship of the Customs Cooperation Fund/Japan.
A total of 24 participants from 23 Asia Pacific regional members took part in the workshop. The workshop was led and facilitated by 3 experts, 2 from the WCO Secretariat, and 1 from ROCB A/P. In addition, 3 development partners, namely the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and Japan Customs participated in the workshop and contributed significantly to the discussion on resource mobilization as key for successful implementation of Customs reform and modernization programmes, by sharing their valuable experience from the donor’s perspective.
This workshop was part of the ongoing efforts of the WCO and the ROCB A/P in supporting Customs administrations to enhance engagement of development partners for their reform and modernization programmes. Previously, the WCO and the ROCB A/P had jointly organized a regional donor conference in May 2012 which provided members in the A/P region with the opportunity to enhance their understanding of partnership with development partners. This Workshop now in Melaka built upon the event in 2012 and enabled participants to address needs in the field of resource mobilization at national level.
Reflecting the strong interest of A/P regional members on this emerging topic, many Directors General, Deputy Directors General and high-level executive officers participated in this workshop and discussed on ways forward. Participants during the five-day workshop developed first draft business cases/project proposals that could in the future lead to potential real Capacity Building projects. The workshop therefore was very timely and is expected to further enhance the collaboration between Customs administrations and development partners for the successful implementation of customs reform and modernization program. The WCO, the ROCB A/P, participating Members and development partners agreed to continue to work together in this regard.