Experts are calling for Vietnam and other ASEAN countries tomodernise customs procedure and policy, which would speed up integrationas the 2015 deadline for the bloc to reach full connectivity drawsnear.
According to the World Economic Forum's report onEnabling Trade in the Greater ASEAN Region (2010), non-tariff measuresare considered one of the most significant obstacles to expandingintra-ASEAN trade and pursuing further economic integration.
The report also said that Vietnam 's border administration andcustoms procedures remained burdensome and time-consuming, while thebooming economy has been straining the country's infrastructure.
Le Trieu Dung, Director of the ASEAN division at the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade's Multilateral Trade Policy Department, agreed thatsome barriers were blocking logistics integration. These include heftypaperwork requirements, differences in goods classification among membercountries, and a lack of legal framework for maritime transportationcompetition, among others.
Speaking on the sidelines of onAug. 22's forum held by the ministry to discuss ways to modernisecustoms, Dung said Vietnam has been quite active in accelerating thefacilitation and liberalisation of services.
"We've beenlistening to businesses about what needs to be done to simplify customsprocedures and requirements, thereby improving the delivery of logisticsservices," he said.
However, he added that it's importantto integrate this effort with building the "soft" systems, specificallyin enhancing the capacity of human resources and removing legal andregulatory barriers.
Massimiliano Guelfo, Vice Presidentand Director of Operation for Piaggio Vietnam-Asia Pacific, said thecompany decided to localise all of its Asian production in Vietnambecause the country is the "perfect" manufacturing location in ASEAN.
Vietnam was an attractive destination for FDI enterprises thatwanted to establish production lines to serve the Asian markets, Guelfosaid, but the country needed to simplify customs procedures and improvetransparency in laws and regulations before these companies invest inother countries.
Duong Van Tam, Deputy Director General ofthe International Cooperation Department at Vietnam Customs, said thatby 2015 Vietnam would implement the ASEAN Single Window mechanism andmost of the custom procedures would be done electronically, thusreducing the time frame for releasing imported goods./.
According to the World Economic Forum's report onEnabling Trade in the Greater ASEAN Region (2010), non-tariff measuresare considered one of the most significant obstacles to expandingintra-ASEAN trade and pursuing further economic integration.
The report also said that Vietnam 's border administration andcustoms procedures remained burdensome and time-consuming, while thebooming economy has been straining the country's infrastructure.
Le Trieu Dung, Director of the ASEAN division at the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade's Multilateral Trade Policy Department, agreed thatsome barriers were blocking logistics integration. These include heftypaperwork requirements, differences in goods classification among membercountries, and a lack of legal framework for maritime transportationcompetition, among others.
Speaking on the sidelines of onAug. 22's forum held by the ministry to discuss ways to modernisecustoms, Dung said Vietnam has been quite active in accelerating thefacilitation and liberalisation of services.
"We've beenlistening to businesses about what needs to be done to simplify customsprocedures and requirements, thereby improving the delivery of logisticsservices," he said.
However, he added that it's importantto integrate this effort with building the "soft" systems, specificallyin enhancing the capacity of human resources and removing legal andregulatory barriers.
Massimiliano Guelfo, Vice Presidentand Director of Operation for Piaggio Vietnam-Asia Pacific, said thecompany decided to localise all of its Asian production in Vietnambecause the country is the "perfect" manufacturing location in ASEAN.
Vietnam was an attractive destination for FDI enterprises thatwanted to establish production lines to serve the Asian markets, Guelfosaid, but the country needed to simplify customs procedures and improvetransparency in laws and regulations before these companies invest inother countries.
Duong Van Tam, Deputy Director General ofthe International Cooperation Department at Vietnam Customs, said thatby 2015 Vietnam would implement the ASEAN Single Window mechanism andmost of the custom procedures would be done electronically, thusreducing the time frame for releasing imported goods./.
