Customs-Business Partnership Increasingly Solidified

The Customs-Business Forum themed “Vietnam Customs facilitates trade and logistics development” recently took place in Hanoi with the aim of fostering import, export and logistics development and contributing to the country’s sustainable development.

Mr. Nguyen Van Can, General Director of the General Department of Vietnam Customs, emphasized that the customs sector is determined that trade facilitation is a key and cross-cutting task of the sector. Comprehensive results of customs reform and modernization in 2011-2020 laid the foundation for the customs sector to submit the customs development strategy to 2030, approved by the Prime Minister in Decision 628/QD-TTg dated May 20, 2022, with the overall goal of "Building a regular and modern Vietnam customs on par with customs service of developed countries in the world, leading the implementation of digital government, with digital customs and smart customs models; improving the quality of service to people and businesses in carrying out customs procedures and administering customs; effectively managing tax collection for import and export; facilitating legal trade, tourism and transportation across borders, creating a transparent and fair import-export environment, and contributing to improving national competitiveness.”

According to statistics, in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam's trade value reached US$543.9 billion, up 5.1% over 2019. In 2021, the value rose 22.6% year on year to US$668.55 billion.

At the conference, the organizing committee announced and honored large taxpayers who respected customs laws. They are outstanding importers and exporters paying big tax to the State coffers, abiding by customs laws and actively facilitating trade and logistics development in Vietnam.

Toyota Motor Vietnam, one of the honored companies, said, from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021, Toyota Motor Vietnam paid a total of more than VND39 trillion (US$1.7 billion) of tax for its imports and exports worth US$3.491 billion, and highly appreciated the customs authorities that help the company to grow further and pay more tax to the State Budget.

Toyota is reportedly one of the first automobile manufacturers to invest in the Vietnamese market since 1995. Toyota Vietnam factories have been continuously expanded by scale and output and its distribution and service systems have also developed accordingly, coupled with technology transfer, personnel training and domestic supplier networking.

Le Hien (Vietnam Business Forum)