At the invitation of the Director General of Bahrain Customs, Mr. Mohamed Al Khalifa, in his capacity as Vice-Chair of the North of Africa, Near and Middle East (MENA) region, Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya participated in the MENA regional meeting, held in Cairo on 2 February 2015 to discuss the follow-up to the Policy Commission's deliberations in December 2014.

He presented the way forward in respect of several key areas: implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement through the WCO's Mercator Programme; performance measurement; the regional Strategic Plans and regional structures; and the procedures for the elections to the WCO Director posts at the upcoming Council sessions.

The Directors General expressed their appreciation for the progress made with WCO activities and endorsed the performance measurement proposal with its 20 high-level indicators. They also agreed to put forward regional candidates for the Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG). A lengthy discussion was held on the proposed meeting of regional development fund providers, the aim being to ensure that identified needs of Members could be adequately met.

During his stay in Cairo, Secretary General Mikuriya met the Egyptian Minister of Finance, Mr. Hany Kadry Dimian, to discuss the reform of Egyptian Customs and the strengthening of its capabilities.