The World Customs Organization (WCO) has formally recognized Senior Customs Officer Salim Browne of Antigua and Barbuda as it celebrated the successful completion of its ambitious Small Island Economies (SIEs) Scholarship Programme. Officer Browne distinguished himself as one of only thirty officials chosen from nineteen vulnerable island nations to partake in this intensive capacity-building initiative, which unfolded across three separate editions from 2023 to 2025.
Funded by the WCO-Customs Cooperation Fund-Korea, the program’s curriculum was meticulously designed to confront the distinct challenges faced by small island customs administrations. It delivered rigorous academic and practical training in critical domains such as advanced risk management protocols, contemporary border security techniques, trade facilitation measures, and enhancing international cooperation. Each three-month session combined theoretical classroom instruction with hands-on, field-based learning experiences.
The WCO established the program specifically to empower small island states, which often operate with limited resources and possess economies highly dependent on imports. The initiative aims to bolster their resilience against the mounting pressures of global trade fluctuations, evolving security threats, and the relentless pace of technological transformation in customs operations.
The Antigua and Barbuda Customs and Excise Division has publicly commended Officer Browne’s involvement, emphasizing that the expertise he acquired is instrumental to the nation’s ongoing campaign to modernize its customs infrastructure. This modernization seeks to align national procedures with global standards, thereby improving service delivery, strengthening border protection, and streamlining trade processes for economic benefit.
The final cohort of the scholarship brought together a diverse group of officials from geographically dispersed regions, including the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and the Pacific, with participants from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Lucia, Papua New Guinea, the Maldives, and Seychelles. The WCO heralds the program’s conclusion as a major milestone in its global capacity-building agenda and anticipates that the professional network forged among the graduates will foster sustained collaboration and cooperation among small island customs administrations worldwide.