On 28 February 2022, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) received Mr. Francisco Lima-Mena , the Secretary General of the Central American Secretariat for Economic Integration (SIECA) and his team to discuss ways to enhance the ongoing cooperation between both organizations in support of regional integration in Central America.
Secretary General Lima thanked the WCO for organizing this meeting and for the recent support in conducting a national and regional Time Release Study (TRS) report covering the SIECA region. He wished to cooperate with the WCO, following the eleven action points identified as a result of the TRS, in defining the way forward for their implementation.
Secretary General Mikuriya suggested that Customs modernization, in line with international standards, would be important and that Customs administrations in the six member countries SIECA, namely Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama could organize a strategic session, facilitated by the WCO, to develop an action plan. He added that Donor coordination could also be part of the programme. Mr. Lima appreciated the proposal and proposed to look at the accession status of SIECA members with regard to the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention as it would send an important message to the world about the region’s openness to trade and investment.
At the end of the meeting, both leaders agreed to further enhance cooperation at this critical stage of regional integration in Central America.