At the invitation of WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya presented the WCO’s contribution to supply chain efficiency and coordinated border management at the Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade, held at the WTO in Geneva on 9 July 2013.

In the context of the panel session on Connecting to Transport and Logistic Value Chains, Secretary General Mikuriya explained the WCO’s tools and programmes as well as the Organization’s readiness to help implement a future WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation.

On the occasion of the Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade, the WCO along with the 27 participating governments and organizations issued a Joint Statement on the importance of trade facilitation assistance. Secretary General Mikuriya emphasized that the WCO would continue supporting trade facilitation reforms.

The WCO had its own stand next to the main conference room to disseminate and promote its Economic Competitiveness Package and other tools, as well as its Capacity Building programmes. The stand attracted many visitors from among the trade negotiators and representatives from other international organizations and businesses, who all showed a keen interest in the WCO and its role in trade facilitation.

Whilst in Geneva, the Secretary General took the opportunity to arrange bilateral meetings with the WTO Director-General, various negotiators, regional development banks and donors.