OSCE assists in building capacity of customs officers in Turkmenistan

ASHGABAT, 19 September 2011 – An OSCE-supported ‘train-the-trainer’ course on  communication skills in customs opened at the Customs Training Centre in Ashgabat today.

Fifteen participants, including the Training Centre’s teaching staff and field instructors, are taking part in the ten-day training course, organized by the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat in co-operation with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan.

“These courses will help develop the skills of the customs teaching staff and contribute to the professionalism of the customs service,” said Ambassador Sergey Belyaev, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

“The objective of the course is to enable Turkmenistan customs instructors to design a training course of their own, that delivers messages related to the Customs Service of Turkmenistan and its efforts, while at the same time nurturing confidence and skill in standing before others and speaking on the subjects placed before them,” said Jonathan Trumble, the OSCE Customs Adviser who is leading the course.

The course includes lectures, improvised presentations, brainstorming and team exercises. The final day of the course will involve each participant in making a presentation on a topic related to the  “Inspection and Detection at the Border” course to be jointly created by course participants and a training leader during the training.

The course is a part of the Centre’s project “Support to the Customs Training Centre. The project also includes a five-day study visit to the customs training institution in one of the participating States, and the establishment of a fully-equipped library at the Customs Training Centre.