The role of NTFCs in emerging issues: simplification of procedures, cross-border cooperation, and e-commerce

Gyang Demitta Chinwude is currently Head of Customs Cooperation, Trade Facilitation and Transit as well as Senior Adviser to the Secretary-General, AfCFTA Secretariat. Before joining the AfCFTA Secretariat, she was Assistant Chief Trade Negotiator and Head of the AfCFTA/ECOWAS department at the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations (NOTN). In her capacity as head of this unit, she was the Alternate Chief Trade Negotiator for Nigeria during the Phase I negotiations of the AfCFTA Agreement. Prior to her deployment to the Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations, Mrs. Gyang was a Commercial Officer at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Nigeria, 2006 – 2016 where she served in the Task Force for Trade Facilitation that eventually became the National Committee on Trade facilitation after Nigeria ratified the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. She proceeded to Geneva, Switzerland in 2012 for an Internship at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and was a part of the Project Implementation Unit of the World Bank Growth and Employment Project (GEM), 2014 – 2016. She holds a master’s degree in International Law and Economics (MILES) from the World Trade Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland.

Steven is Group Head of Trade Facilitation, (GoTrade) at Deutsche Post DHL and has been with the Group for 10 years, originally joining in 2011 at DHL Express as Vice President, Customs & Regulatory Affairs for Europe and Head of Trade Compliance for Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

Before joining Deutsche Post DHL, Steven spent 26 years in the Public Sector, working for HM Customs, HM Treasury, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the IMF. He has worked in both the enforcement and policy areas on topics such as Customs, VAT and International Trade.

Steven sits on a number of public/private trade advisory groups and think tanks at both European and Global level and is also a member of the Steering Groups of the German and Global Alliances for Trade Facilitation and the UNDP Covid 19 Private Sector Global Facility.

Constantin Ciuta, is a Senior Customs Adviser of the ASYCUDA Programme, the largest technical assistance Programme of UNCTAD. ASYCUDA Programme has played a major role in the modernization of the Customs Administrations in almost 100 countries around the world and for more than 40 years.

He has had a longstanding involvement in the functional analysis, enhancement and implementation of the ASYCUDA Integrated Customs Management System in various countries in the region and on the alignment of ASYCUDA system to the European Union (EU) and EurAsian Economic Union (EAEU) Customs requirements.

He also participated in the functional analysis and design of various Single Window and ASYCUDA Cross-border e-Commerce components, such as ASYPCD (ASYCUDA Postal Customs Declaration, establishing and facilitating the exchange of electronic customs information between designated postal operators/UPU and customs administrations), ASYPAP (the ASYCUDA component to facilitate the Pre-Arrival Processing of Express consignments), and ASYHUB (“Digitizing Global Maritime Trade” initiative, improving customs administrations access to advance cargo information).

Currently, Mr Ciuta holds the position of Senior Customs Adviser at the ASYCUDA Centre of Excellence Gibraltar. Before joining the UNCTAD in 2003, he had worked in the Romanian Customs Authority.

Celine Bacrot is Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Trade Facilitation Section in the Division of Technology and Logistics in UNCTAD. She has over 25 years of work experience with a focus on trade and economic development, regional integration and political economy. From 2003 until 2008, she worked in UNCTAD as focal point of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (IF) for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on the formulation of trade development strategies. 

Afterwards, she spent more than 10 years based in East Africa working for several UN agencies (UN-Habitat and UNICEF) and set up a consultancy firm in Arusha, Tanzania, working on trade projects, mainly regional integration, trade development strategies, and trade facilitation in the EAC region and Asia-Pacific. From 2014 until 2020, she was the regional coordinator for the UNCTAD Trade Facilitation project in East Africa. 

She is now based in Geneva and works as senior trade advisor in UNCTAD HQ on trade facilitation, trade logistics and regional integration issues at global level. She has a Master in Economics with a specialization in Economic Development as well as a Degree in Political Science, Development and Co-operation from the University of Paris-La Sorbonne.

Alina Monica Antoci, Senior Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank Group's Trade, Investment, and Competitiveness Global Practice since 2004, led the "Logistics Performance Indicators" project for the "Connecting to Compete - Trade logistics in the global economy" reports.

She authored the "Trade and Transport Facilitation Assessment - A Practical Guide for Country Implementation" and contributed to publications like the World Economic Forum's Global Enabling Trade Report and the World Bank Group "Border Management Modernization."

Currently, she co-leads a book on trade facilitation trends, contributes to high-level policy dialogues, and leads operational implementation of projects in Trade Facilitation, Border Management, and Customs Modernization across 70 countries.

Previously at Harvard, the European Commission, and the Romanian Ministry of Finance, she holds a Master's in Mathematics and Information Technology, a Certificate in International Tax Policy and Administration from Harvard Law School, and a Master's in Public Administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.