Ho Chi Minh City: Heading towards smart custom management

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Photo: Hai Quan Online

Proactively implement many important projects

By 2020, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department has overcome many difficulties and challenges, maintained a smooth flow of import and export goods, and achieved high revenue and payment results thanks to the powerful application of the IT system in management, direction, as well as the goods clearance process.

Notably, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department focuses on perfecting and integrating functions and modules on the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Administration System (HCAS) that was built and deployed in 2019 to accelerate the handling of the online documents, strengthen the connection and linkage between the information system of the Department with socio-political organizations, occupations, and enterprises.

At the same time, to deploy information systems to serve the direction and administration of the Department's leaders, as well as the people and businesses. The department has also completed software architecture, database, connectivity solutions for integrated online goods tracking system under the Trade Facilitation Scheme: Customs procedures in Logistics and anti-congestion at Cat Lai Port.

Photo: Hai Quan Online

In particular, in the complicated situation of the Covid-19 pandemic in the early months of 2020, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department strongly deployed applications for working online on the internet and computer platforms' centralized cloud. The department deploys document management and work management through the HCAS system, using digital signatures on issuing and implementing documents.

In addition, the expansion in object and scope of the Trade Facilitation Scheme is counted as a breakthrough. This project has received high appreciation from leaders at all levels and the business community as well.

As the sponsor of this project, Mr. Michael Greene - Director of USAID Vietnam highly appreciated the efforts of the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department in implementing the project. After successfully implementing two important projects in customs management, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department is ready to build a smart customs management platform.

In recent years, the Department has achieved many important, breakthrough, and innovative policies and solutions in administrative reform and customs modernization; positively impact and improve operational capacity in the management and operation; significantly upgrade service quality for people and businesses towards building smart Ho Chi Minh City, building a more modern customs industry. Recently, the General Department of Vietnam Customs announced that the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department is one of the three leading units in monitoring and evaluating the results of administrative reform in 2019.

Photo: Hai Quan Online

Human is the key factor

With the motto "Good service goes with good management", in order to effectively functions, Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department identifies people as the key factor.

In recent years, the Department has always been interested in fostering and training to build professional and formal human resources. Therefore, in addition to the investment in equipment and machinery, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department have paid special attention to training and building a stream of lean and professional staff to achieve high work efficiency.

Secretary of the Party Committee, Director of the Customs Department of Ho Chi Minh City, Dinh Ngoc Thang, said that implementing new programs posed a lot of changes to officials and employees of the whole unit. It required change in working style, technology management, and application processes to create positions and synchronous forces to implement projects in the most effective way.

Therefore, during the pandemic, in order to carry out training activities, the Ho Chi Minh City Customs Department had an initiative to deploy, train, and retraining via online software. The Microsoft Team and the Centralized Customs Management System ensure the implementation of pandemic prevention, and at the same time, the execution of duties in the new situation. The whole department has deployed, organized 100 training courses, fostered, and sent nearly 1,500 officials to participate.

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