A delegation led by Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, Major-General of the Customs Service, Akmalxuja Mavlonov visited the Regional Office for Capacity Building for the World Customs Organization Europe Region (ROCB Europe) and got acquainted with the activities of the Office on 2 June 2022.

The meeting was attended by Chairman of State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel-General of the Customs Service Safar Mehdiyev and Director of the ROCB Europe, Mr. Eser Çengel and staff of the Office.

Welcoming the guests, Mr. Eser Çengel said that effective cooperation had been established between ROCB Europe and the Uzbekistan Customs Service and relations were developing successfully. Touching upon the importance of the spheres of bilateral cooperation, Director praised the measures taken within the framework of effective cooperation and spoke about the importance of expanding interaction.

Chairman of State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel-General of the Customs Service Safar Mehdiyev noted that the ROCB Europe plays an important role in more efficient organization of work in the customs service of member administrations and ensuring institutional development and capacity building.

Expressing gratitude for the warm welcome and high hospitality, Chairman of the State Customs Committee of Uzbekistan, Major-General of the Customs Service Akmalxuja Mavlonov spoke about the importance of developing and strengthening cooperation in the field of capacity building. Then a video was shown on the activities and the implemented projects of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Discussing the prospects of cooperation at the international and regional levels, it was noted that the representation of Uzbekistan at the ROCB Europe will contribute to the strengthening and sustainable development of relations between the Member Administrations of WCO Europe region, as well as more efficient organization of capacity building activities.

Mr. Mirhasan Seyidzade, executive officer at ROCB Europe, delivered detailed information about the activities and mission of the Office thorugh a visual presentation. He mentioned the ROCB Europe is functioning in the context of its Strategic Framework which is also in line with the WCO’s Strategic Plan as well as its regionalization approach. Mr. Seyidzade also stated that there is an extensive ongoing support to the ROCB Europe from the host administration, the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

During the presentation, it was also stressed that the ROCB Europe web site is well advanced, easy to use and contains beneficial information and resources. The ROCB Europe continues keeping the web site updated and provide Member Administrations with current information and important documents.

The attention was also drawn to the fact that ROCB Europe established an e-Training Section on the its web site which includes WCO materials in a variety of topics both in English and Russian languages as well as visual trainings by the ROCB Europe. E-Training module also includes video presentations made by experts from the events.

Afterwards, the sides discussed the current state of cooperation between the two institutions, prospects for future development, and exchanged views on a number of other issues of mutual interest.