Ho Chi Minh City is busy with export goods at the border gates

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Customs officers inspect exported goods. Photo: T.H

Export acceleration in the last months of the year

Although October 31 is a Sunday, goods exported through Tan Son Nhat International Airport's airport border gate are still quite busy.

Having just completed customs procedures to export a shipment of 600kg of passion fruit to the Dutch market, Mr. Vo Minh Luan, Tuong Long Logistics Co., Ltd., said that in addition to this shipment, today his company also made handicrafts and continue to export 11 shipments of fruit to European countries through Tan Son Nhat international airport. During the peak period of Ho Chi Minh City’s fight against the pandemic, the amount of goods the company processed for export, but not significantly, still maintaining about 20 declarations per day. Since Ho Chi Minh City opened its economy, the amount of exported goods has increased. According to the expected plan, in the last months of the year, the amount of exported fruits and seafood will increase to serve the holiday market at the end of the year.

Mr. Phung Chi Tam, representative of Ngoc Quang Trading and Service Co., Ltd., which carried out procedures to export three batches of fishing worms to France, said that as a customs clearance agent, the company carried out export procedures for dozens of batches every week by air.

Currently, the number of goods exported by the company is increasing day by day; businesses are accelerating exports in the last months of the year.

The head of the export procedures team Dao Viet Anh said that, after a sharp decrease in the third quarter of 2021, starting from October 2021 when Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces eased social distancing and opened their doors. In the economy, export activities of enterprises have increased again, especially export goods transferred from neighboring provinces through Tan Son Nhat international airport border gate, such as: Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Tay Ninh.

On weekends, the number of export declarations is not as much as usual, but there are also dozens of export shipments, mainly fruits, aquatic products, and seafood. On Sunday alone, the unit completed customs clearance procedures for nearly 40 export shipments.

Not only increasing exports via air, at the seaport border gates of Ho Chi Minh City, export goods are also busy all week. At Cat Lai port, the amount of export goods has increased sharply after the movement and transportation of goods was eased. Currently, on average, every day the export customs clearance team carries out procedures for nearly 600 export declarations. In the last two days alone, the unit has carried out procedures for nearly 600 export shipments through Cat Lai port.

Customs creates favorable conditions for businesses

One of the remarkable points about the import-export activities of Ho Chi Minh City from the beginning of the year until now is that the trade balance of goods has a larger trade deficit up to US$12.52 billion, while the same period last year the city only had a trade deficit of US$4.23 billion.

Currently, many production, commercial, business and service activities are allowed to reopen under the motto "Safety first”. Labor shortages and supply chain disruptions occur because workers move to provinces and localities that control means of transport. However, with the city's efforts, the situation of industrial production activities in the city has improved significantly. The industrial production index in October 2021 is estimated to increase by 23.6% compared to September 2021. The laborers working at enterprises in October increased by 59% compared to the previous month. With this growth momentum, it is expected that import and export goods, especially those exported through Ho Chi Minh City border gates, will increase sharply in the peak months at the end of the year.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department, the city is gradually easing social distancing measures and taking steps to prepare for the "new normal" – living with Covid-19 and the production and business activities of enterprises are currently in decline.

After recovering, it is expected that business activities will accelerate to make up for the recent loss, plus increased demand for goods in preparation for major holidays around the world. With this scenario, by capturing information on business and production plans of the business community, in addition to the operational plans set out at the beginning of the year, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has prepared and taken action.

Specifically, to ensure both disease prevention in the safest way and best serve the import and export activities of enterprises. It is expected that import-export activities will be quite active in the last months of the year. Ho Chi Minh City Customs not only creates favorable conditions for import and export activities, but also ensures the state management of customs, effective prevention and combat of smuggling and transportation of border illegal goods, currency, and drugs.