Dear participants,

It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to this WCO Global AEO Conference with the theme “AEO, the way towards secure and competitive growth” which is taking place in Seoul, the Republic of Korea’s beautiful capital city.

Indeed, the WCO is proud to be hosting this conference in partnership with the Korea Customs Service this year which is particularly significant as the organization and its 177 members are celebrating the WCO’s 60th anniversary.

2012 is also the year that the WCO has dedicated to promoting “Connectivity” as its annual theme with the slogan “Borders divide, Customs connects” which is timely, as the AEO concept which forms the basis of this conference will help to establish global connectivity between customs authorities and between customs and their business partners.

In many countries, the AEO concept has become a flagship program for customs, as it offers an opportunity or customs to share their endeavours to secure the global trade supply chain with the private sector, and to reward those businesses who secure their supply chains with facilitation benefits.

Partnership programs with the trade allow customs to do more with less, and aim at ensuring sustainable and long-term compliance through various incentives, and even though the AEO concept was originally driven by security, it has grown to address risks in other areas as well, such as revenue assurance for example.

The advantages of AEO programs can be maximized internationally through mutual recognition, and I am pleased that the number of these arrangements is constantly growing, as mutual recognition strengthens the customs community’s efforts to broaden connectivity and ensure global inter-connectedness among customs and its trade partners.

Let me also take this opportunity to sincerely thanks all speakers, sponsors and exhibitors who have agreed to be a part of this event, your presence is most welcome and will contribute to ensuring the success of the conference.

I am certain that the WCO Global AEO Conference, here in Korea, will leave a solid footprint at the international level, and will pave the way for the establishment of even more AEO programs worldwide, including programs further enhanced by mutual recognition.

I trust that you will find this conference beneficial and I thank you all, once again, for coming to Seoul to share your experiences.

My very best wishes.

By Kunio Mikuriya, Secretary General, World Customs Organization