The Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) is an international trade agreement between countries mostly located in Southeastern Europe. Founded by representatives of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, CEFTA expanded to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the UNMIK (on behalf of Kosovo, in accordance with UNSCR 1244).
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been commissioned by the European Commission and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to implement the project “Support to Regional Economic Integration”. The project aims to provide support to the CEFTA Structures in their efforts to further deepen regional economic integration and alignment within the EU. Close involvement of the business community as the ultimate beneficiary of trade facilitation ensures that the private sector’s knowledge, experience and interest in addressing barriers to intra-CEFTA trade is leveraged.
On Thursday December 9th, GIZ will be hosting a regional meeting to discuss the official launch of the regional AEO Association in CEFTA. In October 2021, the businesses of the region gathered to discuss the common grounds in respect to the AEO status and exchange experience with the application process and the benefits the AEO status provides. The businesses agreed that a joint regional effort is needed in order to improve the overall conditions for AEO operators in the region and further promote the benefits of AEO to businesses in the region.
Shawn Beddows, VP of Global Services at CT Strategies will be providing a global perspective on AEO.
“Integrity, honestly and humility will continue to be the seeds we will plant to grow the AEO concept. Security, facilitation, predictability, and brand equity will continue to be the fruits of our labor.”
