19 scholars from 18 WCO Members around the globe benefitted from a special lecture of WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya on 30 October 2015 at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Tokyo, Japan. The lecture was attended by WCO Member scholars under the Japan-WCO Human Resource Development Programme (Scholarship Programme), with financial support of Japan Customs. The scholars are studying for Master’s degree courses at the GRIPS (Public Finance Programme) and at the Aoyama Gakuin University (Strategic Management and Intellectual Property Rights Programme).

During the special lecture, scholars were briefed about the global environment in which Customs operate and about the latest developments of tools and initiatives of the WCO to meet expectations of the Members and the public. The lecture argued how the WCO would keep responsiveness to support its Members in implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, Customs-business partnership, transit and Coordinated Border Management. It also argued how revenue-related aspects could better be addressed with effective infrastructure. Stress was also made on the significance on compliance and enforcement including security programmes and intellectual property rights. In closing, Mr. Mikuriya underlined the importance of human resource development, to which the Scholarship Programme contributes. The visit of Mr. Mikuriya provided a good opportunity for scholars to gain cutting-edge knowledge of the WCO activities and to recognise roles that scholars can play towards Customs modernisation efforts in respective home administrations.