At the invitation of the State Revenue Service of the Republic of Latvia, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya participated in an International Scientific Conference on "Sustainable Development of Tax and Customs Administrations within the EU", held on 31 October 2013 in Riga, Latvia. The Conference was dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of the foundation of the State Revenue Service (SRS) and cooperation between SRS and the International Business and Customs Institute of Riga Technical University. The Heads of Customs and Tax Administrations from other Baltic countries, namely Estonia and Lithuania, as well as other international participants attended the Conference.
Together with the Latvian Minister of Finance, Mr. Andris Vilks, and the Director General of the State Revenue Service, Ms. Inara Petersone, Secretary General Mikuriya spoke at the inaugural session, welcoming the progress made over the past 20 years and sharing his best wishes for the Service’s future development. He looked at the evolution of Customs in the EU context and also at partnership between Customs and universities to enhance professionalism in the human resource domain.
The Conference, chaired by Professor Aivars Krastins of Riga Technical University, consisted of 14 presentations on Customs and tax matters. The event was an ideal opportunity for attendees to update their knowledge as well as to network. All the participants thanked their Latvian hosts for the excellent organization of the Conference and the hospitality extended.