On September 4, 2019 the start of the first Twinning project “Strengthening the Capacity of the Palestinian Authority to Improve Customs revenue Collection and Borders Crossings Control” was marked in an official ceremony in Jericho. The overall objective of this project is to improve the Palestinian Authority fiscal position through improving collection of customs revenues and strengthening borders control in order to reduce evasion of duties, enhance the capacity to conduct effective controls of goods in order to protect the customs revenues at the borders. The project duration is 27 months with the total budget of 2 mln.Euros.
The project is implemented by three Lithuanian institutions – Customs Department , State Border Control Authority and Central Project Management Agency. The Project Leader is Deputy Director General of Customs Department Vygantas Paigozinas, Antanas Gedgaudas from Customs Department and Irmantas Matulis from State Border Control Authority have been delegated to Palestinian Authority as Resident Twinning Advisers.
Lithuania is the first EU member state which was granted the Twinning project in Palestinian Authority. This project is funded from the EU budget and it is an instrument for institutional cooperation between Public Administrations of EU Member States and beneficiary countries bringing together public sector expertise with the aim of achieving concrete mandatory operational results through peer-to-peer activities.
