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Deputy Director General of Vietnam Customs Mai Xuan Thanh gave statements during the seminar. Photo: N.H

At the seminar, the representatives of the Barcelona Port Authority and Vietnam Customs and Vietnam Logistics Business Association, have exchanged many contents related to Customs operation and the operations of the two parties.

In particular, the representatives of the General Department of Vietnam Customs and Barcelona Port Authority introduced the Customs procedures as well as activities and efforts of the two sides to facilitate import and export activities.

The Deputy Director General of Viet Nam, Mai Xuan Thanh highly appreciated the attention of the Barcelona Port Authority in particular and Spain in general for the development of Vietnamese enterprises through this event. “This will assist Vietnamese enterprises continue to achieve better results in the future.”

According to Mr. Thanh, in 2017, the import and export turnover between Vietnam and Spain reached about US$ 3 billion; in the first 10 months of 2018 the turnover reached about US$ 2.7 billion. This result showed that trade activities between the two countries tended to increase and had a basis to foster quicker economic growth.

Regarding the Customs sector’s performance, Mr. Thanh said that since 1994, with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Vietnam Customs put into operation the e-Customs clearance system VNACCS. Thereby, the Customs procedures were basically automated. The simplification of specialized inspection procedures was requested by the Government a few years ago and was for the increasing requirement for simplifying and shortening clearance times for the business community.

According to the statistics from VCCI, in 2015, the total time for specialized inspection by management agencies at ports accounted for 72% of total clearance time, and the clearance time in 2018 would reduce. The Vietnam Government strongly recommended cutting administrative procedures, in which, requiring the Government’s agencies to cut at least 50% of administrative procedures in 2018.

For the simplification of Customs procedures, Vietnam Customs publicized procedures on its websites and the Government’s Portal including an English version. The Customs also maintained direct information connection with enterprises. By 2019 and the following years, Vietnam Customs will continue to automate its services to provide the best facilitation for enterprises, and they will only need to click on their e-declarations to know the status of their goods.

“For Barcelona Port, Vietnam Customs will always be the focal point and willing to exchange sensitive issues from Spain, as well as from Vietnam to ensure law compliance. Hopefully, the cooperation between the two sides will provide good opportunities for both management authorities and enterprises to connect effectively and transparently, at the same time ensuring the law compliance,” Mr. Thanh said.

For the performance of Vietnam logistics, Mr. Dao Trong Khoa, Vice President of Vietnam Logistics Business Association said that in 2018, Vietnam was ranked 39th of 60 countries on the Logistics Efficiency Index, and was one of 3 leading countries on this index in Southeast Asia, followed by Thailand and Singapore.

The logistics industry is receiving a special attention from the Government. According to the action plan, by 2025, logistics will ensure growth from 15 to 20% per year, maintain the logistics efficiency index in the top 50 countries, increase the rate of outsourcing from 50 to 60%, and reduce logistics costs from 16 to 20%. The Vietnam Government issued a Directive on the reduction in the logistics costs to enhance the competitiveness between the Logistics industry and foreign trade. Mr. Khoa hopes that the Vietnam Logistics Business Association will cooperate and share experiences with the Barcelona Logistics Association.

The Barcelona Port Authority said that Barcelona Port was the most important port in Spain. The Customs and Maritime services were very professional and transparent. Currently, this Port received about 30% of the total volume of Vietnamese goods to Spain. The Barcelona Port Authority was striving to increase the volume of Vietnamese goods transported via the Port to 40%. To this end, Ms. Mecrcè Connesa, President of Barcelona Port Authority, said that the role of customs was very important.

The Customs sector’s highest reform target is trade facilitation VCN- On 21st June 2018, the General Department of Vietnam Customs held a seminar entitled “Customs–Business: Connecting-sharing-accompanying” ...

Highly appreciating Vietnam’s effort in economic development for over 40 years, Mr. Emilio Sanz, President of Barcelona Freight Forwarders Association said that the high economic growth rate, the large population and the stable policy of Vietnam are the reasons for Barcelona Port Authority to select Vietnam as a good destination for trade. Together with the signing of the EU-Vietnam FTA, 65% of import tariffs from the EU into Vietnam and 31% tariffs of export tariffs from Vietnam to the EU would be cut. Vietnam is becoming an attractive destination for many of Barcelona's maritime shipping companies and this would foster two-way trade between Vietnam and Spain in the coming time.