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Ho Chi Minh City Customs officers attendonline meetings during the social distancing period. Photo: ST

Management by digital technology

With more than 1,600 civil servants working in 21 branches and divisions to effectively supervise and manage large volumes of daily work, HCMC Customs Department has applied many modern management programs usingdigital technology. HCMC Customs Department has built and launched the HCMCCustoms Administration System (HCAS). This system includes a working support system in connection with relevant departments and authorities in coordination to perform customs duties.

According to the Director of HCMC Customs Department, the application of HCAS helps the leaders of the department monitor, supervise, urge the progress of the work, the implementation time, and evaluate capacity. With HCAS, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has launched a model of a paperless meeting room, minimizing paperwork, shortening time and improving the quality of meetings and saving costs.

Assessing the initial efficiency of the program, Dinh Ngoc Thang said that HCAS was a project to strengthen the breakthrough modernization reforms, based on the strong application of IT on the basis of integration and multi-platform systems, connecting internal administrative management with direction and supporting customs operations (price data, quick search of HS code and documents). Moreover, the program supports the connection of information between HCMC Customs Department with departments and branches in HCMC; the connection between professional activities and support and information provision for import and export enterprises; transactions of Customs agencies and enterprises through the IT system.

With this program, leaders at all levels can manage all activities of the units anytime and anywhere; leaders of the Ministry of Finance and General Department of Customs can supervise all activities of the HCMC Customs Department. The information exchange and provision by HCMC agencies are quick. Enterprises can receive timely information and support through electronic transactions. Customs officers are provided with tools to help them work faster and shorten customs clearance time.The HCAS project has been approved by the HCMC People's Committee in terms of funding policy. HCMC Customs Department has proposed the City People's Committee to issued written guidance to all agencies on professional supportthat allow the project to connect to the shared database in the Smart City project.

In addition, HCMC Customs Department has consolidated and established new professional teams and other working groups to help the department's leaders effectively. Specifically, for professional teams, public servants with good professional skills and experience are mobilizedto help advise and handle work quickly,effectively and consistently, avoiding inconsistent implementation, causing frustration for businesses.

The HCM City Customs Department is piloting the use of digital signatures in issuing and sending electronic documents through HCAS and eDocTC towards limiting the use of paper documents in accordance with directions of the Customs sector and HCMC People's Committee.

Application for trade facilitation

Not only applying IT in the administration and management, HCMC Customs Department has also been implementing many modern application programs in professional stages, helping to facilitate the import-export activities of enterprises. In addition to the effective implementation of automated customs management programs, such as: automated system for customs clearance/VNACCS/VCIS; automated customs supervision and goods screening through scanners, HCMC Customs Department has also actively built and applied many programs efficiently.

The project to streamline customs procedures in logistics and prevent cargo congestion at Cat Lai port is being implemented by HCMC Customs Department in coordination with Saigon Newport Corporation. With import and export volume through Cat Lai port of about 15,000 containers per day, this project will help speed up customs clearance and reduce costs for enterprises. At present, the unit has screened and selected nearly 200 enterprises that comply with customs laws and have a large import-export turnover to participate in this program.

According to HCMC Customs Department, participants are arranged in separate areas for customs procedures, with a centralizedand synchronized customs process from registration until goods are out of the port, and supported 24/7; goods are cleared at the wharf, saving time and costs for businesses.Those participating in this programcan monitor the online customs clearance process via mobile phone.

With characteristics of wide area management, including a system of 15 seaports along the Saigon River with a length of over 40km; Tan Son Nhat international airport; express delivery; export processing zones and industrial zones with the largest operation scale in the whole country, HCMC Customs Department has launched many projects, continued to develop many big projects, such as: the project on pre-screening of import and export goods with thousands of containers screened before goods are unloaded and project of port infrastructure fee collection in construction progress.

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With the pioneering application of modern and highly effective management programs, HCMC Customs is contributing to building a smart city.