News

Customs digitalization and the Middle Corridor headline WCO Secretary General's official visit to Kazakhstan

Summary

WCO Secretary General Ian Saunders met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, alongside senior government officials including the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Chairman of the State Revenue Committee

Updated on : 23-09-2026

• WCO Secretary General Ian Saunders met with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, alongside senior government officials including the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Chairman of the State Revenue Committee.
• Discussions centred on Kazakhstan's digital Customs transformation through the KEDEN system and the country's strategic role in the Middle Corridor.
• Visit reaffirmed the WCO's longstanding partnership with Kazakhstan, which hosts both a Regional Training Centre and a Regional Dog Training Centre.

The Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Ian Saunders, travelled to Kazakhstan for an official visit during which he was received by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The Secretary General commended Kazakhstan's reform and digitalization course and confirmed the WCO's continued support for the Customs dimension of the Middle Corridor, a route of growing strategic importance.

(WCO Secretary General Ian Saunders met with President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev)

Digital transformation

During the visit, the Secretary General praised the pace of Kazakhstan's digital transformation under the President's leadership, acknowledging his having declared 2026 the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. He was briefed on the integrated KEDEN Customs system, which delivers electronic declaration, advance information and digital transit. Mr. Saunders also met with the Chairman of the State Revenue Committee, Mr. Zhandos Duisembiyev, and received presentations from the Committee's Main Dispatch Directorate and the WCO Regional Training Centre.

Middle Corridor

The Secretary General affirmed the WCO's support for the Customs dimension of the Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), noting that the Organization's standards, such as the Data Model and the SAFE Framework of Standards, provide the common language needed for the end-to-end digital corridor Kazakhstan envisages. In his bilateral meetings, the Secretary General took the opportunity to note that Kazakhstan's experience and continued implementation of WCO standards contribute directly to the stability and integrity of the broader trading environment. Mr. Saunders also pointed out that sustained local effort and close coordination with neighbouring administrations remain essential to this ambition. 

Kazakhstan at the WCO

Kazakhstan has been a Member of the WCO since 30 June 1992 and is party to the Harmonized System Convention, the Revised Kyoto Convention, the ATA Convention, the Istanbul Convention and the Containers Convention. Kazakhstan hosts the WCO Regional Training Centre in Astana, established in 2009, and the Regional Dog Training Centre in Almaty, established in 2004.

(Source: https://www.wcoomd.org/en/media/newsroom/2026/september/customs-digitalization-and-the-middle-corridor-headline-wco-secretary-generals.aspx)