Baku - As a country located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, Azerbaijan is striving to become a transportation hub connecting Europe and Asia. An important step in this direction is the introduction of systems which provide the government with advanced data on passengers and cargo to conduct pre-clearance, thus facilitating public security as well as travel.

Advance Passenger Information (API) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) systems make travel safer and easier for all. To assist the Government in establishing such systems in a coordinated and collaborative manner, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) and the UK Border Force held a series of joint events this week. These include high-level meetings with the Government, a jointly co-facilitated API Inter-Agency Working Group meeting and a workshop. This is the first time the three entities have partnered and complemented their expertise in such a manner.

The workshop was attended by about 25 participants from various government agencies and companies such as the State Border Service, State Customs Committee, State Migration Service, State Security Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Internal Affairs, ASAN Visa Service, AZAL State Airline company, and others, who are leading actors in international relations, border security, law enforcement and migration management in the country.

Vladimir Gjorgjiev, the Chief of IOM Mission to Azerbaijan said that the workshop was extremely useful for Azerbaijan, highlighting that: ”API/PNR implementation is a long-term effort, so I am glad that IOM, UNOCT and UK Border Force were able to combine their respective resources into a joint initiative. The result of this workshop will contribute to government agencies further enhancing their collaboration and contribute to creation of the draft road map for establishment of the API and PNR systems”.

Simon Deignan, Programme Management Officer of the United Nations Countering Terrorist Travel Programme, said that the workshop gave representatives of local agencies an opportunity to learn about the benefits of passenger data for law enforcement, border security, customs, and intelligence: “This workshop is a tripartite joint effort of IOM, UNOCT and UK Border Force to support Azerbaijan government in implementing the UN Countering Terrorist Travel Programme, and adopting the goTravel analysis system to counter terrorism and serious crime.”

Jane Woolley, UK Border Force, stated it was a fantastic opportunity to understand the cross-government needs of Azerbijan in relation to API/PNR and we welcome the opportunity to work interested parties from across all agencies.

Customs service Major-General Javad Gasimov noted that this joint event is important in enhancing the capacity of officials of relevant government agencies, sharing experience in risk management, exchanging views on border security, and cooperation on implementing modern technology.

The event was held under the auspices of the project “Enhancing Passenger Processing Capacities in Azerbaijan in Line with International Best Practices and Standards”, financed by the IOM Development Fund.