HCM City (VNS/VNA) – The logistics industry in Vietnam, especially HCM City, continuesto face challenges like red tape and traffic congestion near border gatesdespite progress made in facilitating trade, Dinh Ngoc Thang, head of the cityDepartment of Customs, told a recent conference.

The Government had been issuing many policies to facilitatetrade by improving the business climate and businesses' competitiveness, hesaid, but admitted that the logistics sector faced "too many inspectionprocedures" and "the inspections themselves take too long, sometimesup to a week."

Besides, standard regulations had not been issued yet forsome products, he said.

"International trade takes place mostly through onefourth of Vietnam’s entry points, and congestion is worsening as tradeincreases," he said.

Vietnamese logistics businesses lack service quality comparedto their international competitors, according to Thang.

Businesses are not adequately aware of free trade agreements,new government regulations or trade laws of other countries.

Le Duy Hiep, Chairman of the Vietnam Logistics BusinessAssociation, said the cost of logistics in Vietnam was higher than inneighbouring countries.

The customs department was carrying out a programme torelieve congestion at Cat Lai Port in HCM City, Vietnam’s biggest internationalport, and develop logistics, he said.

It aimed to ease procedures, reduce the time they require,and also reduce costs like storage and transportation, he said.

Around 200 import-export businesses were taking part in theprogramme, and more would join in future, he said.

They received numerous benefits such as getting their ownarea without needing to join queues, submitting fewer paper documents, having24/7 access to professional staff, and having their own storage areas in theport and prioritised lanes for container trucks.   
 
They could also keep track of custom progress of their goodsand documents, and rate individual employees for customer service.

Thang said goods inspection needed to be revamped, the listof goods that have to be inspected should be re-examined and administrativeprocedures needed to be further simplified.

A comprehensive plan for IT infrastructure development toreduce customs clearance time should be looked at, and more scanners should beprovided to customs officials at border gates, he said.

More favourable taxes and land lease policies could becreated to help foster the logistics industry, he added.

The conference was organised by the department and the USAIDTrade Facilitation Programme./.