The 9^th phase of the programme will be extended until December 14^th, 2019. The decision was taken by the European Commission and supported by all five Central Asian States. The European Union allocated an additional amount of 1,6 million EUR for the extension period, and therefore all five Central Asian countries have signed addendums to their financing agreements with the EU. 

In the extension period, the programme will continue its efforts under three main components, covering institutional development of border management agencies, the institutional framework for the management of mixed migration flows and the adoption of trade facilitation regimes at borders.   Among other actions, activities in risk management, prevention of corruption, prevention and detection of smuggling, optimising control procedures at border checkpoints and enhancing interagency and regional cooperation will be implemented.  The programme will continue to build upon its previous achievements, particularly by providing expert technical advisory support during activities in the national, bi-/multilateral and regional contexts.

For the extension period commencing June 15^th, 2018, Col. Maris Domins has been appointed as the Regional Manager. He takes over the post seceding Raitis Tiliks, who has occupied the position since September 2015. Mr. Domins joins BOMCA after a decade-long tenure as Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Latvian State Border Guard, which is the leading partner of the BOMCA 9 implementing Consortium. As the Leader of one of the Programme Components, Mr. Domins has been actively involved with Programme implementation since the very start of 9^th phase, in 2015.