Criteria of 2024 projected to early accomplishment

In 2024, our country's economy in general, and Binh Duong province in particular, continues to face many difficulties due to the complex and unpredictable developments of the global situation. However, the customs sector in Binh Duong has proactively forecasted the situation, identified challenges, and implemented timely solutions to fulfill the political tasks of the sector right from the beginning of the year. Accordingly, the unit has made efforts to propose various solutions to ensure revenue; and continues to maintain good facilitation for businesses in their import and export activities.

Import and export activities at Binh Duong General Port

To boost IT application

In 2024, the Binh Duong Customs Department will continue to maintain its position as one of the leading units in the country in terms of administrative reform, modernization of customs, and facilitation of import and export activities in the area. To date, almost all procedures, interactions, and processing of documents for businesses are conducted online at all time. According to the Binh Duong Customs Department, to date, 100% of basic customs procedures have been automated, and 100% of customs sub-departments have implemented electronic customs procedures with 99% of enterprises participating. The declaration, receipt, processing of information, and decision-making for customs clearance are carried out with a very high level of automation; the processing time for customs documents is only 1-3 seconds.

According to Mr. Huynh Anh Tuan, the Head of the Customs Department at the Bình Dương General Port Customs Office, to promote the import and export activities of businesses completing customs procedures at the unit, the department has proactively implemented many solutions to facilitate quick customs clearance for businesses, enhancing the application of information technology and modern equipment to support businesses in clearing goods as quickly as possible. Especially, the procedures for handling and receiving goods at the Binh Duong general port helps businesses save 400,000-500,000 VND in transportation costs for each container. Moreover, if we include the port infrastructure fees that Ho Chi Minh City is charging, the total savings for each container can reach up to 1 million VND.

The Binh Duong Customs Department has arranged to use 3 mobile container scanners at 3 centralized cargo inspection locations (Song Than ICD Customs Sub-Department, Customs Sub-Department for Managing Export-Import Goods Outside Industrial Zones, and at the centralized cargo inspection location ICD TBS - Tan Van) to serve the import-export cargo volume of enterprises in 28 industrial zones and outside industrial zones in the province. Transportation is carried out through three main routes: National Highway 13 heading towards Ho Chi Minh City, the My Phuoc - Tan Van - Cat Lai - Ho Chi Minh City route, and the My Phuoc - Tan Van - Dong Nai - Ba Ria - Vung Tau route. The inspection of goods through X-ray machines brings high efficiency, such as shortening the customs clearance time and saving costs for businesses.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Bình, Deputy Director of the Bình Dương Customs Department, stated that currently, the scanning machines managing the import and export goods do not charge fees to businesses, including no fees for entering the scanning area, saving a lot of manpower and reducing costs for businesses as they do not have to manually load and unload goods, as well as the costs of using lifting equipment. The scanning machines help enhance the ability to detect goods that violate regulations by using X-ray images to inspect the entire cargo in the container, instead of relying on random checks through manual methods that only examine a portion of the container; preventing and deterring fraudulent activities in import and export operations.

Import-export activities facilitated

In 2024, the Binh Duong Customs Department was assigned a budget revenue target of 16.8 trillion VND by the Ministry of Finance. To achieve this goal, right from the beginning of the year, the Binh Duong Customs Department continues to develop various solutions, such as promptly resolving obstacles for businesses, always supporting and accompanying businesses with the primary goal of stabilizing production and business activities to prevent the disruption of the supply chain of businesses in the province, facilitating the import and export activities of enterprises.

The number of enterprises participating in import and export activities in the province is rapidly increasing both in quantity and scale, especially among foreign-invested enterprises. To help businesses understand the regulations related to customs, in 2024, the Binh Duong Customs Department organized dialogue conferences with enterprises that are producing and doing business, especially foreign-invested enterprises that are investing in industrial parks in the province. At the dialogue conferences, representatives of the Bình Dương Customs Department and its affiliated sub-departments listened to, understood, and shared the difficulties and obstacles faced by businesses; at the same time, they actively responded to the opinions and issues of businesses related to import-export activities and customs clearance of goods.

Mr. Nagato Takahiko, Chairman of the Japan Business Association in Binh Duong, said that in 2024, Japanese businesses will also face many difficulties, but the Binh Duong Customs Department has accompanied and supported businesses to overcome challenges, such as facilitating quick customs clearance for goods, timely tax refunds, and creating the most favorable conditions for import and export businesses. The Binh Duong Customs Department has also organized meetings and dialogues to resolve difficulties and obstacles, promptly providing support solutions and guidance for businesses.

Thanks to the promotion of administrative procedure reforms, modernization of customs, and the implementation of support solutions alongside businesses, the cooperation between customs and businesses in the province has been highly appreciated by the business community for its innovation and effectiveness over the years. This has contributed to improving the business environment and boosting investment attraction in the area. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Deputy Director of the Bình Dương Customs Department, stated that recently, the customs sector has been enhancing the application of information technology, thereby facilitating businesses and citizens in the customs procedures in particular and import-export activities in general. According to the plan for digital transformation in the customs sector by 2025, with a vision towards 2030, businesses will be facilitated more. The Binh Duong Customs Department continues to apply new and modern scientific and technological achievements on a digital, paperless platform, ensuring transparency, fairness, effectiveness, efficiency, with the ability to forecast and adapt to fluctuations in international trade and the management requirements of customs authorities, in accordance with international standards, serving the people and businesses.

“Binh Duong Customs Department is making efforts to implement various solutions to facilitate import and export activities in the area, striving to achieve and exceed the targets set for 2024,” Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh said.

From the beginning of the year until now, the number of enterprises completing customs procedures has increased by 3.85%, the number of declarations has increased by 17.43%, the import-export turnover has increased by 10.55%, and the budget revenue of the Customs Department of Binh Duong has increased by 14.25% compared to the same period in 2023. As of November 15, the Binh Duong Customs Department has collected a budget revenue of 16,099 billion VND, reaching 95.83% of the target assigned by the Ministry of Finance and 94.15% of the target assigned by the General Department of Customs for 2024.

Reported by Ngoc Thanh – Translated by Vi Bao