Mr. Sebahattin KOÇAŞ, MPA

Director General, Partner

Following his graduation from the Economics and Finance Department of the Faculty of Political Science, Ankara University, in 1977, served as an Investigator and later a Chief Investigator in the Turkish Customs between 1978 and 1990. He received his master’s degree in public management and finance in Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, in 1990 and then worked in administrative positions as a Head of Department in the Directorate General of Customs Operations and, after the establishment of the Under-secretariat of Customs under the Prime Ministry, as a Deputy Director General of the European Union and External Relations.

During his administrative public services, taking into account the approaching EU-Turkey Customs Union, he urged the re-activation of EU-Turkey Customs Cooperation Committee in 1991, which was not meeting since 1983 due to certain political reasons. He translated the Community Customs Code, which is the basis of Turkish Customs Code in force today, and worked as the rapporteur of the Commission who prepared the draft code. Also, as part of preparations of Turkish Customs for the customs union, he organized training programs for officials at the headquarters of the Under-secretariat of Customs and started credit negotiations with the World Bank for funding the Turkish customs automation project.  Meanwhile, he represented Turkey in the Harmonized System Committee and the Scientific Sub-Committee of the World Customs Organization (WCO).

He served in the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate of the WCO as an international Technical Officer from 1994 to 2002 and afterwards, in the Turkish Under-secretariat of Customs as the acting Director General of EU and External Relations in 2003 and 2004.  He was reappointed in the Tariff and Trade Affairs Directorate of the WCO in 2004 and worked as a Senior Technical Officer and acting Deputy Director, during which he followed a WCO capacity building workshop for trainers, conducted nearly 30 national and regional technical assistance and training missions in WCO member countries and was accredited by the Secretary General of the WCO as a WCO Harmonized System Expert Trainer.

He came back to Turkey in 2014 and retired from public service after more than 36 years of national and international experience in customs and trade.  

He continues his international activities as an Accredited Expert Trainer in the WCO capacity building workshops and a Consultant in the World Bank projects.