From 11 to 13 May, the Border Management Programme in Central Asia organised a short-term traineeship in Latvia for representatives of the Customs Institute of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan.  The objective of the traineeship was to upgrade the qualification and competencies of the academic and training staff of the Customs Institute.

In the framework of this event, the participants visited the International Business and Customs Institute of Riga Technical University and the National Customs Board of the State Revenue Service of Latvia. Participants were introduced to the training system under the programme “Customs and Tax Administration” of the Riga Technical University and the system for improving the professional qualifications of employees of the State Revenue Service of Latvia. The participants also studying the experience of developing customs areas relevant to the specialisation of the participants.

As part of the activity, participants and experts from Latvia drafted recommendations to improve the training and professional development of customs officers in Uzbekistan and agreed to strengthen cooperation with the academic staff of Riga Technical University in research and development in customs areas relevant to the trainees' specialisations.