The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will provide a non-refundable technical assistance package worth $718,600 for Vietnam to implement the national one-stop-shop customs mechanism project.
Finance Deputy Minister Do Hoang Anh Tuan and the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Michalak signed the agreement on the issue in Hanoi on Sept 15.
The project is aimed to help Vietnam’s national steering committee and agencies on the ASEAN single window (ASW) mechanism to be well-prepared for the implementation of an overall plan on this field approved on October 21, 2009.
It also is expected to facilitate trade, increase tax collection and enhance State management on Vietnam’s import-export activities as well as to ensure the country’s commitments to the Agreement and Protocol to establish and implement the ASW mechanism.
The project will focus on researching and assessing the existing legal framework, information technology systems and procedures, and then give recommendations on how to carry out administrative procedures on a national single window mechanism that will be piloted in the General Department of Customs, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council has shown great interest in the possibility of implementing the ASEAN one-stop-shop customs mechanism and efforts of each member, including Vietnam to carry out the program, USABC President Alexander Feldman said on the sideline of the AEM-USABC Consultation held in Vietnam’s central city of Danang on Aug 27.
ASEAN was the fifth biggest trade partner and the fourth largest importer of the U.S. in 2008 with the bilateral trade of $180 billion, including the U.S.’s exports of $66 billion, Kirk noted, adding that the U.S. targets to double its export value with ASEAN in 2015.
Since 1995, trade between Vietnam and the U.S. increased by 33 times to $15.4 billion last year, including the Southeast Asian nation’s trade surplus of $9.18 billion.
Currently, the U.S. is the largest importer of Vietnamese products. Apparel, footwear, woodwork products and seafood are Vietnam’s export staples to the U.S. while its main imports are machinery and equipment, animal feed and materials, plastic materials.
The Vietnamese General Department of Customs forecast the bilateral trade will surge to $19 billion and $20 billion in 2010. (
vietnamplus.vn, New Hanoi, New Hanoi
Vietnamese
