At the invitation of the Secretary General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Mr. Tony Tyler, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya participated in IATA's World Cargo Symposium, which took place in Shanghai, China from 10 to 12 March 2015.  Secretary General Mikuriya delivered a keynote speech at the opening session concerning the latest development of WCO activities, including the revision of the SAFE Framework of Standards focusing on air cargo security, implementation of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation, E-Commerce and Coordinated Border Management, an inclusive approach for connecting stakeholders, the WCO theme for 2015. 

During the plenary session, the Secretary General also spoke at the Executive round table, entitled "Instruments for global and regional development" with Mr. Andrew Herdman, Director General of AAPA who moderated the session and Mr. Tony Tyler, Secretary General of IATA and Mr. Xiao Zheng Yi, Deputy Director General of the WTO. 

Secretary General Mikuriya spoke about the extensive portfolio of WCO instruments and tools which are crucial in implementing the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation in a consistent manner and urged the air transport industry to join Customs in improving economic competitiveness.  He also spoke about regional integration, an emerging area where the implementation of WCO standards serves as a basis for enhancing connectivity to enable regional economic communities to contribute to global trading and Customs systems.