Education:

• University of Canberra (Center for Customs & Excise Studies) Double Masters: International Customs Law & Administration and International Revenue Administration

Languages: English, Bulgarian

Technical areas of expertise: Customs, Border Management, Trade Facilitation

Phill serves as DT Global UK’s Principal Consultant for Trade Facilitation. His background is with UK Customs and he has over 20 years of diverse consultancy experience in international development focusing on the delivery of technical assistance and capacity building within the broad space of customs, trade facilitation, and border management. He has worked on both short- and long-term missions with government ministries, border agencies, traders, and other stakeholders in developing economies in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.

Phill’s work is in supporting organisational transition at both a strategic and operational level. This includes reengineering policies, processes, and human capital aimed at reducing barriers to trade and creating greater levels of transparency, simplification, digitization, and collaboration. This in turn leads to increased opportunities for inclusive and sustainable international trade across all business sectors and types. He specializes in working with border agencies to improve risk-driven compliance capacity.

Phill brings in-depth knowledge of international leading best practice standards from the World Customs Organisation, UN, and World Trade Organisation instruments to the many projects with which he has been involved. This includes experience working as the trade facilitation lead contributing to the design and scoping of strategic and businesses cases under a large UK Government multi-country trade capacity building programme.

What’s the coolest thing about your job?

The opportunity to continually add to my technical knowledge not least through the exceptional people I work with.

If you could meet any living person for a chat over a shared dinner, who would you pick and why?

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of the Ukraine, to hear how he processes and explains his remarkable journey from comedian and television personality to one of the most inspirational political leaders of our age.