At the invitation of the WCO Council Chair and Director General of Bahrain Customs, Mr. Ahmed Al Khalifa, the WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, visited Manama, Bahrain on 23 and 24 February 2022.

Upon his arrival, Secretary General Mikuriya visited the Customs facility at Bahrain International Airport’s new terminal. He also attended the annual ceremony in honour of Customs officers having performed above and beyond expectations.   

Dr. Mikuriya met with H.E. Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Minister of Interior, who recalled the ICAO-WCO Joint Conference on Enhancing Air Cargo Security and Facilitation hosted by Bahrain in 2014 and welcomed the Secretary General back to the country. He went on to highlight the important role played by Customs in border security and also expressed his hope for greater global cooperation in this respect.

The Minister of Finance and National Economy, H.E. Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, also greeted Dr. Mikuriya and thanked him for raising the WCO’s profile under his leadership. He then emphasized the need to keep Bahrain’s economy competitive, pointing to Customs’ outstanding performance in dramatically shortening clearance times for goods. 

Secretary General Mikuriya thanked the Government of Bahrain for supporting the WCO through the excellent chairmanship of Mr. Ahmed Al Khalifa and through leading by example with best practices.