The head of the Customs Authority, Abdul Hakim Al-Qubati, discussed today, in the temporary capital, Aden, with an evaluation team from international donor agencies and organizations, the level of benefit from the technical support programs implemented in Yemen, funded by the European Union, and the aspects of support provided to the Customs Authority.

The discussions between the two sides, the Customs Service and the international assessment team, which included Mr. Mark Blaine, a consultant in the United Nations Secretariat, Ms. Gulnar Wakim, a consultant in the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and Ms. Catherine Nogerjem, a translator, focused on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden initiative, in which several countries participate.

The meeting stressed the importance of supporting Yemeni customs, focusing on customs training designated for customs, especially inspection, and continuing to support customs in the field of infrastructure designated for manual and automated customs inspection, which helps detect the smuggling of prohibited goods such as weapons, drugs, dual-use goods, and human smuggling, as well as the field of building abilities.

Al-Qobati stressed the importance of the maritime security program in enhancing the capabilities of human cadres at the Customs Authority, expressing his hope that support will continue and be expanded by international bodies and organizations in order to assist Customs in performing its duties fully, pointing to the efforts made in the field of training and qualification. And holding training workshops within the customs training center for male and female employees in coordination with female trainers working in customs ports, especially free zone customs.

For his part, the Undersecretary of the Customs Authority for the Customs Control Sector, Ahmed Al-Hajj, spoke about the role of qualification and training in the control process, calling on the evaluation team to absorb the visions and observations made by Customs to contribute to improving aspects of international support for the Authority.

For his part, the Director General of International Relations and Cooperation at the Customs Authority, Engineer Fadl Al-Ban, reaffirmed the interest of the leadership of the Customs Authority in strengthening the training and qualification process and involving everyone in it without exception, including the women’s sector in Customs, pointing out that the percentage of female trainees in the anti-smuggling workshop currently being held in the city of Sayun In Hadhramaut Governorate, it represents 20% of the total trainees, in addition to the participation of a large percentage of the women sector in external workshops.