WCO Global Communication Strategies Conference
 

You can download the agenda here

 
08/10/2019
08:30 - 09:30Registration
09:30 - 09:45Welcome address by WCO Deputy Secretary General
09:45 - 11:00Session 1: Understanding Customs challenges and the new Communication landscape
Moderator: Ping Liu, Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate , World Customs Organization
Mr. Stephen Quest, Director-General, DG TAXUD, European Commission, DG Taxud
Mr. Ricardo Trevino Chapa, Deputy Secretary General, World Customs Organization
Mr. James Sweeney, head of the Customs Investigations Unit, OLAF
Mr Poul Hansen, Chief Trade Facilitation , UNCTAD
This session will set the trend for the Conference by discussing some of the challenges facing customs nowadays: the change in focus from revenue collection to trade facilitation and protection and society, changing trade environment – rise of trade in service and intangibles, changes in trade patterns, debate surrounding multilateralism in trade and re-birth of national borders, development of e-commerce, movement towards a digital economy, and the public awareness on climate change and sustainable society.
11:00 - 11:30Coffee break
11:30 - 13:00Session 2: Catalogue of best practices for communicating
Ms. Lissette Selman, Communications Manager, General Directorate of Customs Dominican Republic
Mr. Randy Baltimore, Inspector of Customs, Customs and Excise Division, Antigua and Barbuda
Mr. Epiphane Aboegnonhou Soudonou, Head of Service for Users, Benin Customs Administration
Ms. Mable Bolele, General Manager - Communications, Botswana Unified Revenue Service
Mr. Khalil Bin Gharib, Director of Corporate Communication, Dubai Customs
Ms. Thị Ánh Hồng Vũ, Editor in Chief of Customs New, Vietnam Customs
Mr. Guido Canchari Obregon, Communications and Institutional Image Manager, Peru Customs administration
Ms, Marcy Mason, Writer, USCBP
This session will discuss the experiences of Customs in delivering an effective communication campaign. WCO will draw from the Communication Survey that has been sent out to Members to select impact stories that will be shared during this session. The expectations are to have representatives from all WCO regions to discuss their realities and share their experiences in how they overcame the different challenges.
13:00 - 14:30Lunch
14:30 - 16:00Session 3: Internal communication
Ms. Dace Kalnina, Communication Professional , European Commission
Mr. Adel Baraja, General Manager – Marketing & Customer Experience, General Customs Authority Saudi Arabia
Mr. Leonardo Trentini, Director of Institutional Customs Communication, Uruguay National Customs Directorate
Mr Carlos Popoca Lagunas, Chief Communication Officer (CCO), Mexican Tax Administration Service
This session will centre around how internal communication is taking over the employee engagement role from HR, the impact on employee journey, the link with the overarching people strategy and case studies from Customs administrations and other organizations who get their internal communications strategies right.
16:00 - 16:30Coffee break
16:30 - 18:00Session 4: Engaging with stakeholders in a common dialogue
Moderator: Mr. Shawn Beddows, Manager, Cargo Border Management, International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Ms. Karine Badr, Policy Analyst, OECD
Mr. Vicent Seruma, Assistant Commissioner Public and Corporate Affairs, Uganda Revenue Authority
Ms. Sophany Ramaen, Coordinator National Forum, Belgium Customs Administration
Mr. Chong Kok Keong, CEO, Crimson Logic
Customs – Business Partnership will be the focus of this session where the participants will discuss the notion of “Knowledge translation” where Customs can partner with the private sector to make the message more intelligible to both the citizens and the Custom’s direct stakeholders. The dialogue will be based on the Customs-Business Partnership Guidance and will make recommendations to Customs, such as the setting up of monthly stakeholders meetings between Customs and the stakeholders along the supply chain.
18:00 - 19:30Welcome Reception

09/10/2019
09:00 - 10:30Session 5: Storytelling: engaging emotionally with Customers
Moderator: Mr. Kolja Mendel, Managing Partner, Mendel Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
Ms. Aleksandra Kowalska, Corporate communication manager, European Commission
Ms. Clarinda Moonen, Communication strategist, Dutch Customs
Ms. Johanna Törnström, Assistant Programme Manager, World Customs Organization (WCO)
Ms. Kristina Katz, Co-founder, Smartup Visuals
Ms. Lina Navickaite, Co-founder, Smartup Visuals
Mr. Mupishi Miti, Senior Collector & Manager- Customs Projects, Zambia Revenue Authority
This session will discuss the various ways to communicate the various messages to the target audiences by creating natural, powerful, emotional and relatable stories that are effective in connecting with people. The ultimate objective will be to develop the skills to communicate in a way that people will experience the meaning of the data shared and the knowledge acquired in this way should lead to a change in behaviour, a better understanding of the corporate ideals and how they are linked to the actual lives of people. In a nutshell, storytelling brings the written story to life and involve people in the messages.
10:30 - 11:00Coffee break
11:00 - 12:30Session 6: Engaging with audiences- unlocking the power of social media
Moderator: Mr. Dimitrios Politopoulos, Project / Client Relations Coordinator, World Customs Organization
Ms. Izabella Cooper, Head of press office, European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex)
Mr. Igor Celikovic, Communication Manager, European Commission, DG Taxud
Mr. Youssef El Mazouri, Head of Programming and Communication Division, Customs et Excise Administration Morocco
Ms. Tine Hollevoet, Head of Campaigns and Digital Communications, Europol
Social media, once a playground for the young, has now become a powerful tool used by an older demographic. Audiences now want more interactive, inspirational or emotionally engaging content. Where does Customs stand in this new landscape? Is Customs aware of the new trends? How to surf in this new virtual world of Communication with various landmines such as “fake news” or “post-truths” and how to grasp the concept of “senders, amplifiers, curators, commentators and viewers” ? This session will also be complementary with the previous session on bots where algorithms, virtual reality and augmented reality will be further discussed.
12:30 - 14:00Lunch
14:00 - 15:30Session 7: Embracing new technologies
Moderator: Ms. Milena Budimirovic, Senior Technical Officer, World Customs Organization
Mr. Peter Heurling, Enterprise Solutions Director, EMEA, Meltwater
Mr. Alexander De Voet, Global consulting lead, Accenture Border Services
Mr. Stephen Upton, Director Strategy Business Gov., Microsoft
Ms. Renee Baltimore, Software Engineer, Customs and Excise Division, Antigua And Barbados
Mr. Benedictus Jackson, Communication Manager, Indonesia Customs
Chatbots have created a real revolution in the way companies, organizations, banks, restaurants and so on communicate with customers. Even though it exists since a decade, it has only started to sprout within the last few years. They appear on websites, in messenger apps and on social media and are fueled by Artificial Intelligence. With this technology, we are using robots or automated operators, now called “bots” to have real live conversation and interaction with customers. Some Customs administrations are already using Chatbots to provide tax/customs information based on machine learning techniques and Natural Language Processing (NLP) whereby the bots searches a database of information to reply to queries while at the same time learning from previous questions and replies. In this session speakers will show how they implemented Chatbots and also the technologies available to start using it.
15:30 - 16:00Coffee break
16:00 - 16:30Session 8: Conclusion
The last session will discuss WCO’s review of its communication strategy, with the establishment of a Communication plan, the publication of a brandbook, the organization of a Communication Conference and the publication of a Handbook on Customs Communication Strategies. The results of the WCO Communication Survey that will be launched soon for the general public (Customs, Private sector, Academia, etc) will also be discussed. Participants will also be invited to share their view on the future role of WCO to lead the Communication agenda of Customs.