- February 24, 2015
February 24, 2015?On February 19, Secretary General of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya, attended the opening of a\r\nregional customs training center in Amman and met the Director General of\r\nJordan Customs to explore future cooperation.
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The new center, which will accredited by the WCO, will train customs\r\nemployees in Jordan and the region in best practices in customs and trade\r\nfacilitation.
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?A well trained workforce is crucial to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness\r\nof Jordan Customs,? said Director General of Jordan Customs, Munther Al Assaf, during the opening ceremony. ?Our employees have to be armed with the\r\nappropriate tools to achieve our mission of facilitating trade, combating\r\nsmuggling and protecting our society as well as contributing to promoting an\r\nenabling business and investment climate in Jordan.?
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Jordan Customs has completely refurbished its training center to meet WCO\r\naccreditation criteria. Refurbishment began in 2011 when USAID?s Jordan Fiscal\r\nReform Project (FRP II) identified what needed to upgraded in order to meet\r\nthose criteria. The project also supported renovation of training halls and the\r\ninstallation of equipment essential to modernizing processes and instituting\r\ntrade facilitation programs.
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?We are proud to be supporting Jordan Customs in upgrading the training\r\ncenter to serve not only Jordan but the region,? said Ammar Jarrar, who leads FRP\r\nII. ?Jordan Customs have made significant strides in recent years in\r\nstreamlining their processes for more efficient cross border trade.?
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Secretary General Mikuriya praised Jordan?s progress in modernizing customs\r\nand its investment in “a new generation” through training and\r\ncapacity building. He also praised USAID?s support of customs administration in\r\nJordan and many other countries, saying ?The WCO works in partnership with\r\nUSAID worldwide. We believe their supporting role in instilling global\r\nstandards into customs processes helps Jordan integrate into the global economy.”\r\n
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Jordan Customs has adopted a number of international programs with the\r\nsupport of the Jordan Fiscal Reform Project. Those programs have helped raise\r\nJordan?s position in international rankings of trade performance. Since 2011,\r\nfor example, Jordan has gone from 77th to 54th position for ?trade\r\nacross borders? in the World Bank?s Doing\r\nBusiness report.
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Jordan FRP II is managed by DNG, a joint venture of Nathan Associates Inc.\r\nand DAI.