Dr. Fakhri Al-Hazaimeh, CEO of the Technical Unit of the Agadir Agreement, received Dr. Mamdouh Al-Rifai, President of the Arab Union of Customs Executives, along with his accompanying delegation at the headquarters of the Technical Unit of the Agadir Agreement in Jordan. The meeting was held to sign a joint cooperation protocol between the Arab Union of Customs Executives and the Technical Unit of the Agadir Agreement. This signing comes within the framework of the cooperation sought by the union to facilitate and overcome obstacles facing Arab trade exchange and intra-Arab trade movement.
Dr. Fakhri Al-Hazaimeh emphasized that signing the memorandum of understanding with the Arab Union of Customs Executives represents an initial step to open channels of joint cooperation with the union and to develop a work plan in fields of common interest, particularly related to customs work, serving the member states of the Agadir Agreement. He also noted that the Technical Unit of the Agadir Agreement places great importance on trade facilitation and reducing non-tariff barriers. To achieve these goals, the unit seeks to apply cooperation and coordination among member states in trade facilitation and the removal of non-tariff restrictions.
Al-Hazaimeh added that the memorandum of understanding with the Arab Union of Customs Executives is one of the mechanisms adopted by the Technical Unit to facilitate trade among the member countries by raising awareness of the advantages of the Agadir Agreement and agreements signed between customs administrations of Agadir countries in areas such as mutual recognition of authorized economic operators, electronic linkage, and information exchange, in addition to guidelines in import/export and customs systems.
Dr. Mamdouh Al-Rifai, President of the Arab Union of Customs Executives, stated that one of the union’s objectives is to activate the Arab agreements signed between Arab countries, as well as to raise awareness among exporters, importers, and customs executives on how to benefit from these agreements through conferences, seminars, workshops, training courses, and more.
Al-Rifai added that today’s signing of the memorandum of understanding with the Technical Unit of the Agadir Agreement is a significant step for the union to achieve its founding goals. The Technical Unit of the Agadir Agreement can benefit from the union’s expertise in electronic certificates of origin, single window implementation, and exchanging technical studies in various fields.
Notably, the agreement aims to open channels of cooperation in areas of common interest related to customs. Among the fields stipulated in the memorandum is the union’s role in promoting the Agadir Agreement to the business community and economic actors through training courses, seminars, and workshops organized in coordination with the Technical Unit, utilizing experts from the unit, and benefiting from the expertise of the union’s members in customs work activities, including training, preparing studies, research, and field surveys. It also involves exchanging scientific materials related to topics of common interest, especially those related to customs and trade facilitation, and working on approving an annual executive plan for joint activities. It is worth noting that the member countries of the Agadir Agreement are Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Jordan.
The signing ceremony was attended on behalf of the Arab Union of Customs Executives by Dr. Mamdouh Al-Rifai, President of the Union; members of the General Assembly Mr. Wasfi Shawqfa, Mr. Taysir Al-Khudari, Mr. Mousa Yassin, and Ms. Rana Al-Jamal, Director of the President’s Office.
On behalf of the Technical Unit of the Agadir Agreement, attendees included Dr. Fakhri Al-Hazaimeh, Head of the Unit; Dr. Mohamed Talabeh, Director of Trade Relations; and Ms. Haifa Al-Jamal, Executive Assistant to the Unit.
