Minister of Finance made a field visit at Huu Nghi International Border Gate

On the afternoon of July 30, the delegation of the Ministry of Finance led by Mr. Dinh Tien Dung, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Finance made a field visit at Huu Nghi International Border Gate; checking the situation of import and export through border gates in Lang Son province.

Receiving and working with the delegation were Mrs. Lam Thi Phuong Thanh, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; the leader of the Provincial People’s Committee; the leaders of some provincial departments, committees and agencies.

According to the report of Dong Dang-Lang Son Border Gate Economic Zone Management Board at the meeting, from early 2020 to July 30, 2020, levels, sectors and forces at the border gates regularly checked, grasped the situation and drastically implemented measures to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic. As a result, up to now, no positive cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the border gate area as well as in Lang Son province.

Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung conducted a field trip to check the situation of goods import and export at Huu Nghi International Border Gate

Regarding the situation of goods import and export through the province’s border gates, although all levels, sectors and functional forces in Lang Son province have implemented many positive solutions, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, import and export activities through the province’s border gates have decreased sharply. Specifically, in the first seven months of 2020, the total import-export turnover through the province reached 1,570 million USD, decreasing by 39.4% over the same period in 2019. Revenue from import-export activities was 2,124 billion VND, declining by 0.9 % compared to the same period in 2019.

Currently, the border gates in Lang Son province have been invested in building synchronous infrastructure, well meeting the management of border gates, facilitating import and export, entry and exit. At the border gates, there are sufficient specialized state management forces (border guards, customs, quarantine and so on).

At the meeting, the representatives of some departments, committees, agencies exchanged and clarified implemented tasks as well as difficulties in import and export activities in the first seven months of 2020. At the same time, they proposed solutions to promote import and export activities through the province in the last months of 2020.

In addition, the representatives of departments, agencies and forces working at the border gates, Dong Dang-Lang Son Border Gate Economic Zone Management Board asked Ministry of Finance and other central ministries and agencies to propose the Government to continue selecting Dong Dang-Lang Son Border Gate Economic Zone as one of the key border gate economic zones for focused investment from the state budget in the 2021-2025 period; requesting Ministry of Finance to direct the Vietnamese customs authorities to exchange with China’s equivalent customs units to flexibly allow the two sides’ means of transporting goods through Tan Thanh (Vietnam) – Pu Zhai (China) border gate commodity transport specialized route; asking Ministry of Finance to coordinate with Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Ministry of Industry and Trade to discuss and negotiate with China’s equivalent agencies to expand the list of goods exported through Lang province’s border gates and so on.

Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung spoke at the meeting

Speaking at the meeting, Minister of Finance highly appreciated Lang Son province’s efforts in the Covid-19 prevention and control, especially activities to promote goods import and export through the locality.

The Minister stressed that in the coming time, the situation of goods import and export is forecast to still face many difficulties. Therefore, all levels, sectors of the province, functional forces at the border gates should continue to closely coordinate, synchronously and flexibly deploy solutions to promote import and export activities through the province. At the same time, the province should continue to seriously implement the Covid-19 epidemic prevention and control, especially it is necessary to strengthen border blocking points and completely prevent illegal entry and exit. At the same time, it is essential to strengthen the fight against smuggling, trade frauds and counterfeit goods.

Regarding Lang Son province’s proposals and recommendations, Ministry of Finance received and will report to the Prime Minister for timely direction to remove obstacles related to goods import and export through Lang Son province’s border gates.