Smart Customs - Strengthening the development of free trade zones/free seaport areas

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Deputy Director General Nguyen Van Tho speaks at the Opening Ceremony of the Workshop on "Smart Customs - Strengthening the development of free trade zones/free seaport areas" within the framework of APEC cooperation hosted by China Customs.

Positive contributions

GDVC’s Deputy Director General Nguyen Van Tho highly appreciated the importance of cooperation with Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) partners as well as affirming the active role of Vietnam Customs in positively contributing to the forum’s action goals through the Customs reform and modernization and IT application to facilitate legitimate trade and combat smuggling.

The Deputy Director General said that APEC is currently the largest direct investment region in Vietnam with 65.6% of total investment capital. Among the 14 largest investment partners (over US$1 billion) in Vietnam, there are 10 APEC partners with a total capital of US$39.5 billion, accounting for 95.6% of total direct investment of APEC.

The workshop recognized the important role of the WCO Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (the WCO ROCB A/P) as the leading unit in capacity building, support, connect and cooperate with member countries to improve security and facilitate trade. Accordingly, ROCB A/P's strategy includes four main pillars: Support implementation of WCO conventions, instruments and tools; Further develop partnerships with development partners; Improve needs analysis, planning, delivery and management of capacity building activities of customs administrations in the region; Enhance communication and information sharing among members.

ROCB A/P's key tasks under the annual plan (2023-2024) focus on smart customs, implementation guidance at FZ and surveys of member countries to understand the need for support skills for customs modernization and reform and achieve the strategic development goals for 2024-2025.

​In the following discussion sessions, Customs administrations discussed about key role of data connection in developing smart customs. Besides, the development of Fzs/free seaport areas is a driving force to promote economic growth among member countries in the region. Especially in the age of strongly developing digital technology, technology development in these areas will enhance competitiveness in the global supply chain.

At the workshop, Deputy Director General Nguyen Van Tho said that to keep up with the general development trend of APEC, Vietnam has recognized the importance and potential for developing the marine economy. Accordingly, Vietnam Customs has identified the goal of “Building a regular and modern Vietnam Customs, on par with the customs of developed countries, leading in implementing digital Government, with the model of digital Customs and smart Customs” in the Customs Development Strategy to 2030.

In addition, the development of Fzs/free seaport areas is an inevitable trend of cooperation and integration; aims to support the development and promote the comparative advantages of economic regions. The goal of creating favorable conditions for customs procedures as well as smart management and supervision at seaports is not only to promote economic cooperation between countries in the Asia-Pacific region but creates opportunities for cooperation with many international economies.

Vietnam Customs together with businesses and People's Committees of some provinces and cities, actively research and implement free trade zones and key seaport areas to foster facilitation to investment, production and business development. This work is expected to help Vietnam become a global investment bright spot in the coming years, Deputy Director General Nguyen Van Tho said.

Sharing many experiences

At the workshop, leaders of Customs administrations of China, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, Peru, APEC, Hong Kong (China), South Korea, Singapore, Asia-Pacific Model E-Port Network Operational Center, Thailand, Indonesia and WCO and technology providers shared experiences on fostering smart customs through technology and innovation, serving development of free zones and free seaport areas.

Accordingly, Australian Customs shared about the simplification of the cross-border trade environment. Australian Customs said that success comes from simplification of cross-border trade through cooperation with 28 national government agencies, simple and consistent trade rules, digitization and data sharing, more modern processes and skilled and expertise staff, a stable and fair functional model, expanded development of border gates, security and community protection.

Japan Customs shared experiences in implementing Smart Customs to strive towards the world's leading Customs administration with a medium and long-term vision of modern customs management. Japanese Customs emphasized that digital transformation is an inevitable trend of changing trade flows around the world after the Covid-19 pandemic and expected to address economic security threats in the country. Japan Customs would make great efforts to implement Smart Customs by integrating environmental changes and needs and reviewing and revising implementation measures promptly.

China Customs has developed 3S (including Smart Customs, Smart Borders, Smart connectivity) by application new technology and modern equipment. Accordingly, Smart Customs is applied in areas such as cross-border e-commerce, smart image assessment, health inspection and smart quarantine. Smart border is the connection between border management agencies and neighboring countries to monitor smart borders. The smart connection aims to connect customs information systems, standardize modern customs management models, and cooperate with entities in the supply chain.