Dong Nai Customs Strengthening Business-Customs Partnership

In the past 22 years of construction and development, the Dong Nai Customs has always attached much importance to customs reform and modernisation to strengthen management, increase budgetary revenues and facilitate export and import activities for enterprises. These aim to make Dong Nai the most attractive destination to domestic and foreign investors.

 

To fulfil tasks assigned to us, we have stepped up administrative reform, featured by some remarkable activities as follows.

 

The Dong Nai Customs Department was the first unit of Dong Nai province and the customs sector to build a website in 1999 to provide information and policies concerning customs for enterprises. To date, the website has more than 9.1 million visits and has effectively supported the business community. We have launched the "online working registration" on the website to support businesses to set the meeting schedule when they want to work with us.

 

The department has also launched a free online customs procedure counselling column on the website to answer customs-related questions. Every year, the column has so far answered more than 1,500 questions from organisations and individuals across the country and practically supported exporters and importers.

 

The Dong Nai Customs has boosted the popularity of its question and answer (Q&A) columns on the website, on Dong Nai Newspaper, Binh Thuan Newspaper and Dong Nai Television.

 

The department has carried out the budget collection modernisation project between financial units and banks. To date, it has cooperated with 24 banks to collect budgets.

 

Its collected revenue surpassed VND10 trillion in 2011 and export - import tax revenue ranked fifth in the country. In 2013, the Dong Nai Customs Department installed container scanners, considered the most modern in Vietnam, at Tan Cang - Long Binh inland clearance depot (ICD) to facilitate the business community to shorten their time for commodity checking and clearance duration. In 2014, we successfully deployed the VNACCS/VCIS automated customs clearance system at all seven bureaus and serve all companies. In 2015, the Dong Nai Customs Department officially launched the DNa-Info customs - business information exchange system to serve the business community in Dong Nai and Ninh Thuan provinces. This is a completely new solution to administrative procedure reforms that the Dong Nai Customs Department was the first to apply and allow customs - business information exchange in a rapid, accurate and trustworthy manner.

 

To build and develop customs - business partnerships, the Dong Nai Customs Department annually coordinates with local authorities to hold dialogues with country-specific companies like Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, hence supporting them to deal with existing difficulties and challenges and improve the competitiveness of the local business community.

 

With its ongoing efforts in the past 22 years, the Dong Nai Customs Department has always fulfilled all export and import tax collection tasks. The department was one of the two first customs units to be named the Labour Hero in the renovation process and the only administrative unit in Dong Nai province was recognised the Labour Hero in the renovation process.

 

In 2016, the Dong Nai Customs Department will strengthen and develop the customs - business partnership by organising business conferences and dialogues together with sending written documents to businesses. This year, we plan to hold three conferences with local companies from Taiwan, South Korea and Japan and sign a cooperation agreement with the Japan Business Association in Vietnam.

 

The department will maintain its question and answer (Q&A) columns on the website, on Dong Nai Newspaper, Binh Thuan Newspaper and Dong Nai Television and online customs procedure counselling column on the website. We will upgrade the DNa Info customs - business information exchange system to run natively on the website in the form of online public services, aimed to create an online information exchange channel for customs bureaus and local businesses.

 

Right from the beginning of the year, leaders of the Dong Nai Customs Department was determined to accomplish the following key tasks.

 

The department targets to collect VND14,500 billion for the State Budget and improve the business environment and national competitiveness under the philosophy “the government goes with businesses”. Accordingly, the Dong Nai Customs Department will focus on customs reform and modernisation with the following solutions:

Continuing to effectively operate the VNACCS/VCIS system and prepare for the second phase of deployment launched by the General Department of Vietnam Customs; carrying out full connection between central ministries and agencies with the General Department of Vietnam Customs via the National Single Window for customs information; reducing the time for completing export procedures to less than 10 days and the time for import procedures to less than 12 days - reaching the target set by Resolution 19/NQ-CP of the Government dated March 12, 2015; applying the National Single Window (NSW) mechanisms at seaports for closer and easier management and control of vehicles; and launching a new website with more utilities, contents and better interface.

 

Strengthening and developing customs - business partnership; reviewing and supporting qualified enterprises into the list of companies with recognised priority: Targeting at 10 companies to be qualified for attraction status of prioritised companies; setting up a taskforce in Giang Dien Industrial Park to facilitate export and import activities of enterprises; assisting Vietnamese logistics companies to develop and compete with foreign rivals and helping exporters and importers to reduce costs and edging up competitiveness on international markets.