HO CHI MINH CITY CUSTOMS PROPOSE DIRECTION TO REDUCE CONGESTION AT CAT LAI PORT

The Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organized a report on the preliminary results of the survey of the Project: “Trade Facilitation: Customs Procedures in Logistics and Anti-Congestion at Cat Lai Port.”

Attending were Mr. Dinh Ngoc Thang, Director of the Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City, and Mr. Michael Greene - Director of USAID Vietnam. In addition, there were also the presence of units under the General Department of Customs, the Maritime Administration - the Ministry of Transport, the Saigon Newport Corporation and the port authorities of Cat Lai.

In 2019, the Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City implemented a breakthrough program in trade facilitation, was the unit in charge of developing and implementing the “Project on Trade Facilitation: Customs Procedures in Logistics and Anti-Congestion at Cat Lai Port” with specific objectives: Cutting procedures, enhancing IT application to shorten procedure time, reduce travel costs for businesses; Reducing cargo congestion at Cat Lai port and traffic around the port; Improve the level of satisfaction of enterprises with the process of carrying out customs procedures; Improve national competitiveness, generate state budget revenue, develop sustainable economy; Improve the ranking of the Logistics Efficiency Index, the index of cross-border trade transactions of Vietnam.

Immediately after the implementation received the attention of the leaders of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Finance, the General Department of Customs. In particular, "Project on Trade Facilitation: Customs Procedures in Logistics and Anti-Congestion at Cat Lai Port" of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Departmentn attracted the attention and sponsorship of USAID - USA.

The project is a new breakthrough showing the determination of the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department concretizes the direction of leaders at all levels in rapid reform and strong modernization, building a system of convenient customs services, realizing the goal of reducing 70% of the time for customs clearance of goods, saving costs for businesses and society is estimated at 5,000 trillion VND/year.

The project also improves regional connectivity, increases the circulation of import and export goods from Cat Lai port to the belt area and neighboring provinces.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Michael Greene - Director of USAID Vietnam highly appreciated the efforts of Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department through the implementation of the project to reduce congestion at Cat Lai port, hopes that the project will be implemented and replicated, and at the same time committed to cooperate and support with the Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City implemented the project, thereby contributing to the growth of Vietnam's trade.

USAID is committed to continuing to work with stakeholders of the Government of Vietnam to complete surveys and develop strategic solutions to reduce trade time and costs, thereby further promoting bilateral trade. healthy relationship between the United States and Vietnam.

The USAID-funded Trade Facilitation Project is currently coordinating with the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department is conducting a preliminary survey to develop a project to reduce congestion and facilitate trade at Cat Lai port. The study will look at overall customs operations and operations at the port to assess operational efficiency, bottlenecks, and storage time.

Also propose strategies and solutions in the form of an action plan. The plan is expected to identify ways to reduce congestion, which could suggest new layouts or expansion of facilities as well as IT solutions that can attract investment from the private sector.

The survey results are an objective perspective from domestic and foreign experts of the Project on the congestion of goods at Cat Lai Port. As the basis for the City Customs Department will strengthen scientific arguments to serve administrative reform and trade facilitation more thoroughly and strongly.