Nghe An import-export enterprises wish to remove obstacles in customs procedures

Import and export turnover increased sharply

Since the beginning of the year, the world has continued to face many difficulties. In this situation, the Government and relevant ministries and branches have implemented many solutions to promote import and export activities. The ministries and branches have paid attention to supporting businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, to recover and develop production through facilitating administrative procedures, accessing credit, and providing more open loans.

Therefore, import and export tend to increase quite high. According to the Department of Industry and Trade, in the first 6 months of the year, Nghe An's export turnover reached 1,350.5 million USD, an increase of 22.72% over the same period in 2023. Import turnover is estimated at 1,018.45 million USD, an increase of 53.33% over the same period in 2023.

Some items had a fairly high growth rate compared to the same period: Electronic equipment and components increased by 72%; Textiles and garments increased by 10.8%; Steel sheets of all kinds increased by 29.2%; Footwear of all kinds increased by 34.7%. Stone powder increased by 10.2%; Tapioca starch increased by 59.2%; Wood chips increased by 70.3%; Electric wires and cables increased by 86.5%. In particular, rice increased by 96.3% due to the narrowing of the world's rice supply due to unfavorable weather conditions, many major supplying countries were forced to ban and limit exports, etc.

In the first 6 months of the year, Nghe An enterprises exported goods to over 135 countries and territories around the world. Export turnover to some markets increased sharply compared to the same period, typically: China increased by 29.12%; Hong Kong increased by 61%; Taiwan increased by 37%; Germany increased by 101.5%.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Customs Department said: The number of enterprises conducting import and export activities and registering for procedures at Nghe An Provincial Customs Department is 433 enterprises, an increase of 47% compared to the first 6 months of 2023. The total budget revenue from import and export activities in the first 6 months of 2024 is 777.73 billion VND, reaching 58.6% of the 2024 plan target, an increase of 19.29% over the same period in 2023.

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Nghe An province's economic growth in the first 6 months of 2024 reached 6.76% (in the first quarter it increased by 6.22%; in the second quarter it increased by 7.22%), which is the 3rd highest growth rate in the North Central region and the 26th highest in the country; higher than the 6.15% growth rate in the same period in 2023. The province's economy grew quite well in the first 6 months of the year thanks to the recovery of the industrial sector, especially in some key products in the processing and manufacturing industry, along with positive signals in the construction sector thanks to the Government's policy of removing difficulties, accelerating the disbursement of public investment capital, reducing interest rates and increasing foreign direct investment flows.

Continue to remove difficulties for businesses

With the speed of attracting and disbursing foreign investment capital, in 2023-2024 and the coming years, the number of enterprises, output - import-export turnover and the number of customs declarations will increase to serve the import of machinery, equipment, production materials, raw materials and finished product exports. The increasing output of current and future import-export goods of Vietnamese enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises in Nghe An will increase the demand for customs procedures and customs management. Therefore, continuing digital transformation in the customs sector, creating favorable conditions for enterprises towards the goal of building smart customs, digital customs, paperless customs, reducing customs clearance time, saving overall costs for enterprises... is an issue.

At a number of import-export business dialogue conferences organized by the industry and trade sector and customs, many businesses proposed that customs continue to have support plans, supplement - increase personnel, support additional customs procedures outside of working hours to help businesses in this urgent and important stage to ensure the speed of customs clearance of goods, the progress of logistics and import-export activities. Strengthen coordination with departments, branches and sectors in Nghe An province, central ministries and branches to effectively implement specialized inspection activities, determine the origin of goods; reduce overlap in specialized inspection...

Ms. Le Thi Hoang Oanh - General Director of Avina Logistics Joint Stock Company said: Normally, according to the risk assessment criteria, enterprises will go through the first 1-2 years of implementing customs procedures and especially importing machinery and equipment, which will have a higher rate of customs document inspection (yellow channel) and physical inspection of goods (red channel). These operations still have to be directly inspected, reviewed and guided by customs officers. Therefore, the time limit for customs procedures will take longer than the usual regulations and progress. This also causes costs for storing containers, storing yards, road transport safety risks and risks of delays in installation and production operations to deliver goods according to contracts signed with international customers.

Therefore, businesses recommend that Nghe An Customs Department continue to have plans to support, supplement, increase personnel, second civil servants during peak periods, and support additional customs procedures outside of working hours to help businesses in this important urgent period, ensuring the speed of customs clearance of goods and the progress of logistics and import-export activities.

Currently, the headquarters of Nghe An Customs are mainly located in the South of the province, which is not convenient for customs management, especially the actual inspection of goods (red lane inspection) for import and export goods of enterprises in the West, Central and North areas, which have a lot of room to continue attracting foreign investment and increasing import and export such as Dien Chau, Quy Hop, Hoang Mai...

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We recommend that Nghe An Customs Department study the establishment of a Customs Operation Team in a more convenient area to meet the above needs, suggesting Hoang Mai area - the gateway for import-export and international logistics of Nghe An to optimize resources, time, costs, and increase the efficiency of customs management activities, as well as logistics and import-export activities of the business community.

Ms. Le Thi Hoang Oanh

A mineral export enterprise in Quy Hop said that for a long time, most of the import and export goods of Nghe An enterprises have been transported along the route to the North to Hai Phong port. Import and export enterprises in Nghe An are inherently disadvantaged in terms of transportation time of 5-7 hours, and domestic transportation costs are 30-50% higher to ports and international border gates than enterprises in the northern provinces, so they need understanding, sharing, and support to compensate for these disadvantages.

In addition, Nghe An is attracting new generation foreign investors, creating new types of investment, production and business technology and supply chains, trade - import and export activities, creating many problems without specific regulations and instructions in the legal document system, and without reference to precedents in other localities.

Therefore, businesses need to be provided with information, support, guidance, and dissemination on the Nghe An Customs Department's Information Portal, seminar programs, training - coaching... Thereby, helping businesses update policies and legal regulations in a timely manner, optimize resources, time and costs, and improve production and business efficiency.