WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya participated in the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting, held in Davos, Switzerland from 21 to 25 January 2014, to jointly shape the global agenda amid a feeling of cautious optimism about the world economy shared by many participants.

The Secretary General contributed to a series of meetings involving key trade ministers and business leaders to discuss the way forward following the WTO Bali Ministerial Conference last December. They agreed that steady implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (ATF) was critical to maintain the credibility of the multilateral trading system. There was strong support for WCO delivery of standardized technical assistance to avoid divergences in the application of the ATF by countries, as well as engagement by multiple stakeholders.　The discussions also stressed the need for consistency between bilateral, regional and multilateral approaches within the trading system and welcomed the WCO's best practice approach in terms of sharing experience and laying the groundwork for the future.

Secretary General Mikuriya took this opportunity to renew contact with many heads of state, international organizations, ministers, business leaders and academics and updated them on recent WCO priorities and activities.

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