7 - 8 Sept 2021, Bangkok, Thailand

At the invitation of the of Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific (RILO A/P), Mr. Norikazu Kuramoto, Head of ROCB A/P participated 32^nd Administrative Meeting for National Contact Points of Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Asia and the Pacific (RILO A/P NCP Meeting) held virtually on 7 - 8 September 2021. Program Manager of the ROCB A/P, Ms. Sherman Yu also joined the meeting to provide support.

The meeting was chaired by Bangladesh Customs and RILO A/P was the co-host. Dr. Md. Abdur Rouf, Director General of Customs Intelligence & Investigation Directorate, Bangladesh Customs delivered the welcoming remarks. In his speech, he highlighted the importance of intelligence exchange in combatting smuggling of contrabands in the region. He also took the opportunity to thank participants for joining this meaningful meeting. Following Mr. Rahman’s speech, representatives from United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), RILO A/P, AP members and experts from WCO took turn to deliver their presentations.

Mr. Norikazu delivered a presentation to introduce the ROCB A/P and provide an overview of the upcoming capacity building activities especially for intelligence experts as well as useful ROCB A/P’s publication function and materials. He also encouraged intelligence experts to actively participate capacity building activities in this fiscal year hosted by ROCB A/P. Since both RILO A/P and ROCB A/P shouldered the role to coordinating and consolidating regional activities. Mr. Norikazu expressed wishes that both offices will work hand in hand in near future.

During the meeting, respective Customs administrations shared their best practices by utilizing intelligence in their daily operation to increase the overall efficiency and effectiveness. Case statistics, details and views on smuggling trend were shared and discussed during the presentations. All participants agreed that closer cooperation and more intelligence exchange are vital to uphold the enforcement effort in the region.

For more information, please write to us at rocb@rocbap.org.