As part of its capacity building on one of its strategic priorities, Customs Leadership, the OCO in partnership with the World Customs Organization (WCO), organized a Leadership and Management Development (LMD) Workshop from 28 November to 8^th December, 2017 in Nadi, Fiji for OCO members. The workshop was delivered to 19 senior officials from ten of the non-WCO member countries and was facilitated by Mr. Rob Jansen and Ms. Valentyna Golubenko of WCO Secretariat.

During the two weeks workshop, participants learned the relevant aspects of leadership, visioning, people management, delegation, motivation, negotiations, communications, change management, and decision-making. The workshop was very practical and the participants were able to apply the management skills learnt on some of their current reform initiatives. The participants were very participative and at the end of the workshop demonstrated their motivation and commitment to contribute to the organizational development and modernization processes of their respective Customs administrations.

The Head of Secretariat, Mr. Seve Paeniu, in his closing remarks at the workshop expressed the members’ gratitude to the WCO Secretariat for delivering this Workshop. He indicated that whilst our WCO members have the opportunity to source technical assistance from WCO through its Capacity Building programs, the remaining administration often lack the technical expertise to assist them in the implementation of customs reforms. Through the WCO-OCO partnership, capacity-building programs such as the WCO LMD workshop can be delivered to strengthen capacities for smaller member administrations. He also indicated that in the near future, the OCO will be implementing the OCO Professional Standards Framework (OPSF) aimed at delivering accredited customs training programs to members that will give a quality assurance to the trainees and provide a pathway to obtaining academic qualifications and that workshops like the WCO LMD will become critical component of the Framework.