High Level Dialogue “ILT Global Trade” in Berlin New Challenges for Customs Policy and Customs Administration
From 22nd to 23rd June 2009 Prof. Hans-Michael Wolffgang participated in the High-Level Dialogue which was carried out in Berlin. The topic of the dialogue was: “New challenges for Customs Policy and Customs Administration, Capacity building matters: The Contribution of the InWEnt International Leadership Training”.
The opening welcome address was held by Mr. Jens Petersen-Thumser, Head of the Devision of Good Governance/ Economic policy of the organization InWEnt, followed by speeches of Prof. Hans-Michael Wolffgang, Judith Hoffmann and Evita Schmieg.
In the focus of the dialogue was InWEnt, a non-profit organization dedicated to human resources and organizational development, advanced training and dialogue. One of their programs is the International Leadership Training (ILT), which is an advanced training program for young professionals from developing or transition countries in view of increasing their professional know-how and management capabilities. The program aims at making long-term contribution to economic development in the SADC, EAC and ECOWAS member states (regional economic communities in Africa).Therefore the High Level Dialog aimed at providing the opportunity to exchange ideas and views on customs modernization in an era of globalization and regionalization.
Prof. Wolffgang contributed to the success of the two-day meeting with a Keynote address bearing the title “Customs Modernization: New challenges in an era of globalization and regionalization”. In his speech, Prof. Wolffgang stressed the importance of the dialog stating that “there is need for concerted effort and dialogue from all players” to be able to carry out successful capacity building programs. Given the many challenges in a globalized and regionalized world, it is necessary that customs officials are well-trained to ably handle various challenges. The speech underlined capacity building as an indispensable factor of customs modernization.
The dialogue was successfully completed by a working group session about the current projects of InWEnt and current trade issues.