The Secretary General was accompanied by Mr Shahin Baghirov, Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and senior representatives of the Committee. The continued institutional support and commitment of the State Customs Committee remain essential to the effective functioning of ROCB Europe.
The visit took place within the framework of a series of high-level institutional meetings held by the Secretary General in Azerbaijan at the invitation of the State Customs Committee. A WCO Member and host of ROCB Europe since 2011, Azerbaijan continues to play an increasingly prominent role in WCO dialogue and within the international Customs community.
Following a guided tour of the premises, the Secretary General met with the ROCB Europe team. After welcoming remarks by the Director of ROCB Europe, Mr Antonio Lo Parco, an open and substantive exchange took place on the Office’s current activities, forthcoming programmes and strategic priorities.
The discussion provided an opportunity to consider the role of ROCBs within the wider framework of the WCO’s regionalization processes. The Secretary General underlined the central role of Members in identifying and agreeing regional priorities, as well as in ensuring that capacity-building activities respond directly to their needs.
The essential contribution of the WCO Secretariat was also highlighted. By making WCO instruments, best practices and expertise available to Members, the Secretariat supports the development of targeted and coherent capacity-building responses based on needs identified through a structured assessment process.
In this context, the Director presented the rationale and main features of the forthcoming "Light Expat Programme", currently being developed in close coordination with the WCO Vice-Chair for the Europe Region and her team.
The Programme is conceived as a pragmatic and non-structural mechanism to strengthen ROCB Europe’s delivery capacity and support the coherent implementation of its annual Action Plan. It is intended to help translate Members’ identified needs into visible operational results without creating permanent staffing structures or long-term financial commitments.
The visit represented a valuable opportunity for institutional dialogue, strategic reflection and renewed commitment to an increasingly responsive, coordinated and Member-driven approach to regional capacity building.
