CAIRO – Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel el-Wazir conferred on Monday with Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Ghada Wali and her accompanying delegation on joint co-operation and current challenges at the various levels.
During the meeting, the minister explained that the ministry has the potentials to help neighbouring countries set up a model harbor dredge and dock to allow vessels to receive necessary services along with the establishment of quays and logistical areas to accelerate the trade movement.
Wazir also stressed the importance of striking a balance between accelerating the flow of international trade and controlling the smuggling operations across land and maritime harbors via enhancing the technical capabilities of officials concerned to counter the cross-border crimes and get trained on the international programs for inspecting the containers and detecting any suspicious smuggling operations.
Wali, on her part, reviewed the efforts of the UNODC to stand against the cross-border crimes via various land, sea and maritime outlets.
She also pointed out to several key programmes overseen by UNODC to monitor the containers at dry and maritime harbors in co-operation with the World Customs Organisation (WCO) with the aim of banning illegal trafficking, drug smuggling and other crimes.
The two sides agreed on further making steps to support Egypt in the transport sector within the context of the specializations of UNODC.
