KABUL (Pajhwok) — Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi on Sunday pledged commitment to the Arusha Convention of World Customs Organization (WCO) aimed at good governance and customs modernization, a statement from the ministry said. Revised Arusha Declaration is one of the WCO’s key legal instruments regarding the good governance, integrity in accomplishment of tasks and combating corruption which has been signed in Arusha, Tanzania, on the 7^th day of July 1993 revised in June 2003.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) statement said the commitment letter to the Arusha Declaration was inked in the presence of Kunio Mikuriya, Seretary General of the WCO and Kazunari IGARASHI, head of WCO Asia/Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building.

It added the declaration would help developing countries to reach the national goals such as business facilities, reform and the fight against corruption.

“Accession of Afghanistan to the Arusha Convention will help us to strengthen the infrastructures and human resources capacity in customs department to develop the economy in addition to collecting national revenue. And this is the only good tool that will promote economic development, employment and trade with the regional countries”, Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi was quoted as saying during the signing of commitment to the convention.

“A skilled and committed Afghan as technical attaché of customs will soon be introduced to WCO for further consolation with this organization”, he was echoed as saying.

By signing the commitment to the declaration in the ten sections — leadership and commitment, regulatory framework, transparency, automation, reform and modernization, audit and investigation, code of conduct, human resource management, morale and organizational culture and relationship with the private sector — Afghanistan would fulfil its commitments, it added.

“The WCO is as house of the world customs departments and we are interested in sharing our experiences with Afghanistan in the modernizing customs in Afghanistan, capacity building and better management of customs”, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General of the WCO was quoted in the statement as saying.