9-19 October 2012

Under the auspices of the project for "Building Trade Capacity through Customs Modernization" funded by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the WCO conducted a Leadership and Management Development (LMD) Workshop for the benefit of customs, excise and tax middle and senior managers at the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA).

The SRA is a semi-autonomous revenue administration agency, established in 2008 and operational since 1st January 2011. It operates within the broad framework of Government but outside of the civil service. The SRA has also identified leadership and management development as an essential success factor for its development.

The LMD workshop was held in Mbabane, Swaziland from October 9 - 19, 2012 and brought together 20 middle and senior customs, excise and the tax managers from the SRA. The workshop was conducted by colleagues from the WCO Secretariat and the Finnish Customs Administration.

Throughout the event, attendees were able to learn and exchange on a wide range of topics related to strategic management and leadership, including visioning, communications, negotiations, the promotion of integrity in the workplace, people management, and change management. Participants were also given opportunities to learn about their management style through a number of interactive role plays and exercises. During the WCO LMD workshop, participants are invited to focus on their individual approach and values as managers, leading them to identify their development needs.

The WCO is progressively rolling out this new programme to interested Members, using content and materials developed in collaboration with member Customs administrations, academia and the private sector. The SRA top management proposed to the WCO to eventually conduct an adapted activity of this kind for the executive level of the organization.