World Bank and WCO agree to launch major Customs capacity building initiative
Brussels, 18 October 2010
Press Release
The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the World Bank announced that they have reached agreement in principle to launch a new 3.1 million US dollar capacity building initiative designed to provide greater access to some of the WCO’s key capacity building programmes for Customs officials in Africa. The project will be implemented over three years and will be known as the WCO/World Bank Customs Capacity Enhancement Project for Sub-Saharan Africa (CCEP-SSA).
“The project is designed to leverage the World Bank’s financial resources together with the WCO’s extensive Member network and proven technical competence to facilitate access to its capacity building programmes for a much larger number of Customs officials throughout Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya.
He noted that the project reflects very positively on the work of the WCO and the high priority it has placed in recent years on supporting WCO Members in their capacity building programmes.
Specifically the project will finance the development and conduct of 18 senior management and leadership development programmes tailored to the specific needs of senior regional Customs officials, the preparation of a series of new elearning modules in high priority technical areas, and full implementation and support for the rollout of the WCO’s elearning program throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
In jointly launching the initiative with the WCO, Bernard Hoekman, the World Bank's Director for International Trade said, “The project represents a very practical demonstration of the close partnership that has developed between the Bank and the WCO and recognizes that Customs administrations play a vitally important role in the achievement of government objectives in respect of trade facilitation, revenue collection, security and community protection.”
He described the project as an excellent example of effective cooperation and collaboration between major international organizations active in the trade facilitation field as well as the wider development community. He noted that financing for the project was provided through the Bank's newly established Trade Facilitation Facility; a multi-donor facility administered by the Bank and financed by the governments of Great Britain, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Teams from the WCO and the World Bank are now preparing the implementation plan and the formal agreement, and it is hoped the project will commence in January 2011.