Paris, 18 March 2014

Upon invitation of the French Development Cooperation Agency Adetef and French Customs, the Deputy Director Capacity Building, Ms. Heike Barczyk, on behalf of the WCO participated in a High Level International Seminar on the importance of training for economic development which was held in Paris on 18 March 2014.

During the opening of the seminar by Ms. Marylise Lebranchu, Minister of State Reform, Decentralization and the Public Service, France, and by Ms. Niale Kaba, Minister of Economy and Finance, Cote d'Ivoire, the topic of the importance of constant investment in Human Ressource Development was brought into the focus of the seminar. Both ministers stressed the fact that sustainable development and enhancement of public services is not imaginable without such investment.

In the course of three round tables, discussions and exchange of experience related to questions such as training as potential key to building or re-building public services and thus countries as a whole; efficiency and impact of training programmes and how to measure performance in this context; or the role of professional training centers and how to use local, national and internatioal training tools.

Ms. Barczyk participated in one of the round tables entitled "What impact of training in the long-term" and shared WCO experience on how management training accompanies Customs reform and modernization processes and which positive side effects better trained Customs and increased expertise also have on other stakeholders such as the private sector and other governmental agencies and thus contribute to broader issues such as trade facilitation, revenue gathering and security of societies.

Ms. Barczyk also had the opportunity to bilaterally meet colleagues of Adetef and French Customs and to thank them for the continued strong French support for the WCO Capacity Building work already over many years.