At the invitation of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya participated in the high-level follow-up meeting of the UEMOA Customs modernization project supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), held in Dakar, Senegal on 29 October 2014. The project was launched in Burkina Faso, the host country of the UEMOA in June 2013. The meeting was opened by Minister of Budget of Senegal, Mr. Birima Mangara and Commissioner of UEMOA (Regional Market, Trade, Competition and Cooperation), Mr. Christophe Joseph Marie Dabiré. Customs administrations from the eight UEMOA members, in addition to representatives from Ghana and Nigeria, reviewed the progress of the program over the year, including the One Stop Border Post at the Cinkanse border between Burkina Faso and Togo. Secretary General Mikuriya stressed the importance of inter-connectivity between Customs administrations in sharing data as an essential component of transit through corridors to ensure the fluidity of border-crossing trade together with infrastructure, guarantees and tracking and explained the launch of the WCO Transit Handbook in this respect. He also emphasized the need for consistency between several projects on inter-connectivity at bilateral and regional levels. The meeting issued a recommendation that the UEMOA and its member countries explore inter-connectivity further to ensure consistency among its members. Once obtained, such consistency could subsequently be applied to all 15 members of the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS). The participants also reviewed other areas of project activities, including the future strategy of the UEMOA and charted next year's activities. They also expressed their appreciation to Senegal Customs, the hosts, represented by its Director General Mr. Elimane Saliou Gningue.