Inter-agencies conduct a survey to improve Cross-Border Trade Index

	Customs determines improving the Cross-Border Trade Index
	Upgrade the Cross-Border Trade Index
	VTIP – Tool for trade facilitation

Deputy General Director Hoang Viet Cuong delivered a speech at the meeting of the interagency working group.

Deputy General Director of the General Department of Customs Hoang Viet Cuong - Head of the group chaired the first meeting to implement activities. The meeting was attended by members from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (Central Institute for Economic Management); the Ministry of Transport (Transportation Department); the Ministry of Science and Technology (Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality); the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee; Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the Vietnam Logistics Association; and the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.

At the meeting, Cuong said in Government Resolution No. 02 / NQ-CP dated January 1, 2019, the Ministry of Finance (General Department of Customs) was assigned to chair and work with other ministries and agencies to take charge of Cross-Border Trade Index with the goal of upgrading this Index by 15 places in 2021 and by three to five places in 2019.

Cuong said that this is a very important task. Therefore, to upgrade the Cross-Border Trade Index as stated in Resolution 02 / NQ-CP, there should be active participation and efforts of relevant units to carry out solutions synchronously to reduce time and costs of cross-border trade.

The Ministry of Finance issued Decision No. 881 / QD-BTC dated May 27 to establish an inter-agency working group to survey the Cross-Border Trade Index.

Regarding the survey plan, Director, Deputy Head of Modernization Reform Board Kim Long Bien said the goal is to measure the time and cost of implementing cross-border trade procedures in Vietnam according to World Bank’s criteria and methods at the Doing Business Report; thereby proposing solutions for relevant units to reduce time, cost, to improve capacity and cross-border trade index.

Regarding the scope of the survey, for imported goods, the survey will be conducted from the time when the shipment arrives to ports to the time when the shipment is transported to enterprise’s warehouses; for exported goods, the survey shall be conducted from the time when the shipment is loaded on means of transport at enterprise’s warehouses for transporting to the border gate to the time when the shipment is loaded on ships at ports for exports. Items to be surveyed shall be similar with those surveyed by the World Bank. The working group will select enterprises in Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City to conduct the survey under two forms of sending questionnaire and direct interviews.

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According to the plan, in the first six months of 2019 and the beginning of July, the working group will complete the survey and make report.

Based on the draft plan, the working group members all recognised the importance of this survey and discussed to specify the steps.