At the invitation of the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya addressed delegates at the high-level opening ceremony of the United Nations Conference in Vienna on 3 November 2014.
The Conference aimed to seek a renewed political commitment to address the special needs of landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and identify priorities, ways, and means to address them. This was the second Conference after the first one held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2003. The Conference takes place only once a decade and is an important milestone for formulating a focused, forward-looking and action-oriented development agenda for LLDCs for the next decade.
Secretary General Mikuriya made a statement together with other heads of international organizations, including Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Mr. Roberto Azevêdo, Director General of the World Trade Organization, and several heads of state, including President Heinz Fischer of Austria. In his remarks, he highlighted the importance for Customs administrations to establish an effective and efficient transit regime which is an essential element to promote regional economic integration and ensure economic growth of LLDCs.
He also used his speech to launch the WCO Transit Handbook that the Permanent Technical Committee finalized last week. The audience showed a great interest and hundreds of copies of the Transit Handbook Conference edition were quickly picked up. Secretary General Mikuriya announced that the Transit Handbook would be formally published shortly after further editing and incorporating the outcomes of the Conference. He also described other WCO instruments that facilitate transit, including the Revised Kyoto Convention and the Time Release Study. He gave an assurance of enhanced delivery of technical assistance and capacity building for LLDCs through the Mercator Programme, a tailor-made assistance programme supported by a wealth of instruments and best practices, a network of accredited experts and a comprehensive donor engagement mechanism,
Secretary General Mikuriya hoped the Conference would strengthen the spirit of cooperation and coordination among the various stakeholders.