At the invitation of Mr. Gonzalo Pereira Puchy, Director General of Chile Customs, WCO Deputy Secretary General Sergio Mujica attended the launch of the 2014 Public-Private Customs Council, held on 27 October in Santiago, Chile. The central theme of the meeting was: "The Role of Customs to Contribute to Economic Competitiveness".

The ceremony was attended by leaders from the Chilean public and private sectors, and was opened by Mr. Alejandro Micco, Vice-Minister of Finance. The Vice-Minister emphasized the openness of Chile’s economy to the outside world, there being 23 Free Trade Agreements with 61 countries, with an average rate of Customs duties of 0.97%. Based on this development strategy, the Vice-Minister highlighted the importance of Customs modernization and the key role of Customs in contributing to economic competitiveness.

In his keynote speech, Deputy Secretary General Mujica presented the WCO’s Economic Competitiveness Package, including the roadmap the WCO will follow to support consistent and effective implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.

During his mission to Chile, Mr. Mujica also held a bilateral meeting with Mr. Gonzalo Pereira, Director General of Customs, to discuss the various initiatives the Chilean Administration is currently implementing to continue its modernization process, as well as its commitment to further support and develop capacity building initiatives.