Building the image of Customs through communication

Da Nang Customs: Building a beautiful image of customs officers

Deputy Director General Nguyen Duong Thai made a speech to direct the press-communication work of the Customs sector in the future. Photo: M. Hung.

With the suggestion of the Editor-in-chief of Customs Newspaper Vu Thi Anh Hong, the seminar received a lot of sharing of content, situations about communication, status quo, difficulties and obstacles, especially the experience of communication crisis management in the process of implementing communication activities at units.

Sharing the important factor in communication, Deputy Director of Hanoi Customs Department Nguyen Truong Giang said that sensitive information, small or large, affects the unit. When contacting, providing information to the press must be delivered to people who are brave and knowledgeable about the case; harmoniously combinethree elements – knowledge, skills and attitude to exchange with the press.

In particular, it is necessary to have an attentive attitude of listening to the press, with a spirit seeking the truth, towards a spirit of cooperation with the press, especially accurate information for the press. Along with that is the reorganization of operations and attitudes of officials in the unit.

Editor-in-chief of Customs Newspaper Vu Thi Anh Hong gave a speech to lead the seminar.

Sharing experience in the communication work of the unit, Deputy Director of Quang Ninh Customs Department Tran Quang Trung has raised many valuable experiences, such as: proactively coordinating with the press in the area, especially the specialized newspaper; reflect the information of the results of the efforts of customs officials in order to publicize their understanding of the tasks of the industry; diversified in communication, assigned to the units to manage their information pages. Additionally, focus on building high skills for the communication team.

As the largest customs unit in the country, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department attaches great importance to communication, regularly exchanging information with press agencies. Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department regularly provides information to newspapers. In the first 10 months of 2019 alone, there have been 700 articles posted on the Department's website. In communication, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department focused heavily on propagating trade facilitation activities to enhance the image of the Customs office.

Along with that, the units of Binh Duong Customs, Hai Phong Customs, Office of General Department of Customs also shared a lot of experience in communication.

Deputy Director of Quang Ninh Customs Department Tran Quang Trung gave a speech about media work at the unit. Photo: M. Hung

Proactively provide information to the press

Assessing the communication activities of the General Department of Customs, Deputy Director General Nguyen Duong Thai emphasized that the General Department of Customs is very active in providing information to the press. With Customs Newspaper – the mouthpiece of the industry – there have been many efforts to turn from a print newspaper into a multimedia communications unit, with many printed newspapers, electronic newspapers, television news on electronic newspaper, and anEnglish electronic newspaper to convey information to readers.

However, the Deputy Director General also pointed out a number of shortcomings, that is working a lot, resulting in a lot, but the communication has not been much; many anti-smuggling cases are very dangerous, but there is no in-depth analysis of the difficulties that Customs authorities have to face; cadres and civil servants sometimes hesitate to contact the press, need to change to the initiative and willingness and seriousness in providing information to the press.

Deputy Director General Nguyen Duong Thai said that the organization of training courses for the communication industry is an opportunity for people working in propaganda to exchange and improve knowledge, as well as make the most of information exchanged from lecturers with problems from his unit.

Deputy Director General Nguyen Duong Thai, Organizing Committee of the classand participants took agroup photo. Photo: M. Hung

Noting some contents with officials on communication activities of customs units in the future, Deputy Director General Nguyen Duong Thai said that from leaders to civil servants, workers continue to consolidate and raise awareness about journalism, equip themselves with knowledge and skills to deal with the press; it must be very proactive and closely coordinate to provide information to the press to improve communication efficiency.

Each unit needs to identify areas and key focal areas that are prone to communication crisis in order to have the contents to closely follow and handle when the crisis occurs; Strengthening the connection of units in the field of communication. In addition, the Deputy Director General noted that customs officials need to have standards and comply with regulations when participating in social networks.

Acquiring the direction of the Deputy Director General Nguyen Duong Thai, Editor-in-chief Vu Thi Anh Hong said that the Customs Newspaper will continue to coordinate with the Office of the General Department of Customs and the customs units to perform better. In addition, the propaganda through this work builds an increasingly modern and professional Customs image in the eyes of people and businesses.