The 16th Meeting of the Heads of Asia/Pacific WCO Regional Training Centres (RTCs) was held at the Shanghai Customs College (SCC) on 24-25 October 2018. The meeting was opened by Dr. Cong Yuhao, President of the SCC and was chaired by Mr. Jizheng Zheng, Associate Professor of the SCC. All the heads of RTCs in the region (RTC China , Shanghai and Xiamen; RTC Fiji; RTC Hong Kong China; RTC India; RTC Japan; RTC Korea and RTC Malaysia), representatives from the WCO Secretariat, Asia/Pacific Vice-Chair Office and Asia/Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P) participated in the meeting.
The heads of RTCs at the meeting exchanged views on how to enhance Customs capacities through strengthened professionalism and human resource networks so as to ultimately contribute to Customs modernization efforts in the region. The delegates intensively discussed topics such as the development and the use of e-learning programs, application of the WCO Training Strategy, the way forward to optimize the benefits of hosting WCO workshops, and the enhancement of the RTCs’ functions, amongst others. The meeting provided an opportunity to further discussion on the ‘Centre of Excellence’ concept of RTCs that has been in place in the region and to learn from each other on training strategies and activities of the respective RTCs, especially the RTC China, host of the meeting.
During the meeting, the SCC kindly arranged a campus tour including a visit to the SCC Library and a field trip to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, which showcased a series of reform measures taken to facilitate and promote trade for furthering economic growth.
At the invitation of the RTC Korea, the next RTC Heads Meeting will be held in 2019 in Korea. All the delegates and the WCO appreciated the warm hospitality, excellent coordination of the meeting, and the field visits organized by the General Administration of China Customs and the SCC.