Provincial Customs Department: Efforts to support enterprises, promoting import and export activities

To promote import and export activities of enterprises in the province, Binh Duong provincial Customs Department has proactively deployed many solutions to ensure favorable conditions for quick customs clearance of goods, promoting reform and modernization of procedures. Along with that, the sector has organized dialogues to directly hear, share and promptly solve enterprises’problems.

Sign of improvement

In the first months of 2024, import-export activities in Binh Duong province have continued reaching many positive signs. To ensure that enterprises' goods are not congested, provincial Customs Department has made efforts in implementing many measures to reform and modernize inspection, supervision, support, information provision and companionship with enterprises.

Binh Duong Customs always creates favorable conditions for import-export enterprises to quickly clear goods. In picture: Representative of an enterprise carries out procedures at Song Than Customs branch

Nagato Takahiko, Chairman of province-based Japanese Business Association said that although still facing many difficulties, provincial Customs Department has accompanied and supported ensterprises to overcome difficulties via making quick customs clearance of goods, timely tax refunds and creating the most favorable conditions for import-export enterprises. Provincial Customs Department has also organized meetings and dialogues with enterprises many times to remove their obstacles and promptly provide them with solutions. It is hoped that provincial Customs Department will further accompany and help enteprirses do business effectively in the locality.

According to provincial Customs Department, the unit’s total State budget revenue from export and import activities in the first 2 months of 2024 was more than VND1.73 trillion, reaching 10.31% of the 2024 estimate. As of February 15, the unit has handled customs procedures for 4,644 enterprises with 212,779 declarations, an increase of 29.89% over the same period last year. Particularly, there were 65,644 import declarations, an increase of 18.85%, and 147,135 export declarations, an increase of 35.51%. Total import-export turnover through the area reached US$ 6.44 billion, an increase of about 5.55% over the same period last year. Of these, import turnover was US$ 2.46 billion while export turnover was US$ 3.97 billion. The main import and export items were machinery and equipment, electronic components, wood, garment, iron and steel products.

In the current difficult context, achieving the target of export turnover growth as well as ensuring State budget revenue in 2024 is extremely challenging for provincial provincial Customs Department. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Deputy Director of provincial Customs Department said that in 2024, in order to strive to achieve the set State budget revenue estimate, the unit will further promote administrative procedure reform and customs modernization, creating favorable conditions for enterprises to work.

Since early this year, provincial Customs Department has focused on implementing key tasks and solutions to improve the business environment, enhance competitiveness and remove enterprises difficulties in production and business; further researched and proposed initiatives to reform administrative procedures, especially the ones related to import-export activities, to shorten time and costs; deployed tasks to implement a plan to digitally transform the customs sector, set up digital customs targets towards a smart customs model; implemented policies and solutions on customs procedures to create favorable conditions for import-export enterprises.

Expanding import and export methods

Many export enterprises said that they have received new orders from the beginning of 2024. However, it is predicted that in the coming time, the province's import and export activities will still have many difficulties. In addition to practical and flexible support from the local administration, enterprises are also taking advantage of opportunities and expanding methods of quickly transporting goods by many forms at optimal costs.

In order to promote import and export goods transported by railway, Vietnam Railway Corporation has coordinated with provincial Department of Customs to put an international multimodal train transporting goods from Song Than station to China into operation. This is a good sign for export enterprises in general and enterprises making services exporting goods to China in particular. Currently, enterprises can open declarations directly at the Customs Department and Song Than station to bring goods directly to countries. This shortens time and costs for enterprises a lot.

In order to diversify import and export methods and create maximum convenience for enterprises, provincial Customs Department has also put into the pilot model of making import and export procedures for goods via express delivery service for enterprises at gathering, inspection and supervision locations; focused on postal and express delivery goods of Tan Cang Express Joint Stock Company in Thuan An city’s Binh Hoa ward. The implementation of express delivery service is a new type in the province. If import and export of goods in Binh Duong were mainly via sea and transshipped to land border gates in the past, now enterprises can carry out customs procedures for express delivery goods right in Binh Duong with the system of cross-border air cargo warehouse system.

Ngo Tuan Hung, Deputy Head of R-Pac Vietnam Co., Ltd.’s Import-Export Department said that provincial Customs Department’s application of information technology and import-export methods have helped enteprises to save time and costs, making customers feel more satisfied. For import-export enterprises, customs procedures have a significant impact on business efficiency. Improved customs clearance procedures have helped enterprises perform anytime, anywhere and save costs effectively.

Reported by Ngoc Thanh-Translated by Kim Tin