Bac Giang Customs: Strive to improve investment environment, attracting import-export enterprises

Customs officers of Bac Giang Industrial Park Customs Branch instruct enterprises to make customs declarations. Photo: Thái Bình

Enthusiasm

Visiting Bac Giang Industrial Park Customs Branch (Bac Ninh Customs Department), reporters witnessed the professionalism and enthusiasm of customs officers performing tasks in each job position. They instructed businesses to carry out customs procedures carefully in order to solve problems.

“Many enterprises’ offices are close to the headquarters of the Customs Branch, so the import-export staff of the companies often come to the headquarters to make declarations and handle arising problems so that import and export activities can be carried out quickly. The customs branch also arranged an independent area with desks and internet connection to create favorable conditions for businesses,” a representative of the Branch said.

This is far different from the previous year, when Bac Giang was the pandemic center of the whole country. There were times when the number of Covid-19 infections in the industrial park increased sharply, forcing the People's Committee of Bac Giang province to establish a medical isolation area to both ensure the safety of customs officers, and professional operations to handle procedures as requested by businesses.

The leader of the Bac Giang Industrial Park Customs Branch (Bac Ninh Customs Department) said that the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in Bac Giang province has been basically controlled. The pandemic prevention and control measures have been adjusted to suit the actual situation, and businesses have basically returned to stable operations.

Also, the Customs Branch has implemented professional activities normally and maintained the work plan in the new situation, focusing on revenue collection and developing solutions to increase State revenue in order to complete the task of state budget collection in 2022.

At the same time, the Customs Branch has proactively grasped information on production, business and import-export activities of enterprises that have a large turnover and contribute large amounts of revenue in the management area. It will serve as a basis for formulating a revenue collection plan, encouraging and proactively removing difficulties and obstacles of enterprises in import and export activities in order to maintain the source of revenue.

Attract investment

The efforts in reforming administrative procedures and facilitating trade of Bac Giang Industrial Park Customs Branch have made an important contribution to promoting import-export activities and attracting investment in the region.

According to Bac Giang Industrial Park Customs Branch, the branch handles procedures for more than 17,000 declarations each month, with a total import-export turnover of more than US$2.2 billion.

Notably, the number of declarations and turnover has increased recently. In April alone (reporting period from March 16 to April 15, 2022), Bac Giang Customs handled procedures for 23,858 declarations, with a turnover of more than US$3.3 billion, increasing 39% in terms of declarations and 50% in terms of turnover compared to the monthly average.

Talking to Customs News, Deputy Manager of Bac Giang Industrial Park Customs Branch Nguyen Xuan Ngoc said attracting investment projects in industrial parks of Bac Giang province had grown, especially foreign-invested projects. In the past three years, investment capital has exceeded US$1 billion/year, ranking in the leading group in the whole country.

“In particular, import and export activities have achieved remarkable growth in turnover, in which there is an important contribution of the Customs authority. The promotion of customs procedures reform and trade facilitation has made a great contribution to improving the business environment and attracting investment in the area,” Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ngoc said.

Moreover, Mr. Shang Hsiao Cheng, Import-Export Director, Fuhong Precision Components Co., Ltd. (Dinh Tram Industrial Park, Bac Giang), said that the Covid-19 pandemic caused a disruption in global supply chains.

Recently, the Chinese authority temporarily suspended import and export activities at many important border gates. Hence, it resulted in the Company's import and export goods being heavily affected. However, thanks to the timely support of Bac Ninh Customs Department in general and Bac Giang Industrial Park Customs Branch in cargo clearance, the handling of additional declarations as well as consulting and answering problems relating to the process of customs procedures, the operation of export production of the Company was maintained, with production capacity equivalent to nearly 80% of production capacity compared to the time before the pandemic.

“In the future, the company expected the General Department of Vietnam Customs and ministries, sectors to join hands to remove the problem of border congestion at road border gates in two provinces of Lang Son and Quang Ninh. From that, helping the import and export activities of the Company operate smoothly. Along with that, the enterprise also hoped that the reform and modernization of the Customs sector takes place as planned, contributing to improving the efficiency of import and export management of state management agencies. Besides that, Customs authority should organize more forums (talks, dialogues, conferences, seminars) to promptly grasp the difficulties and problems of enterprises, especially FDI enterprises,” said Shang Hsiao Cheng.