On June 25, 2024, the pair of bilateral border gates Hoanh Mo (Vietnam) - Dong Trung (China), including the Bac Phong Sinh - Ly Hoa customs clearance, came into operation. This is an important turning point to promote border trade and tourism activities between the two sides. However, to promote the strengths of the pair of bilateral border gates Hoanh Mo - Dong Trung and the Bac Phong Sinh - Ly Hoa customs clearance, there are still shortcomings that need to be resolved soon.
The Hoanh Mo - Dong Trung bilateral border gate pair, including Bac Phong Sinh - Ly Hoa customs clearance, coming into operation is a step to concretize the viewpoints, goals, orientations and solutions to implement the development planning of Hoanh Mo - Dong Van border gate economic zone (Binh Lieu district), Bac Phong Sinh border gate economic zone (Hai Ha district) approved by the Government. At the same time, it is one of the contents concretizing the results of the official visit to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (China) by the high-ranking delegation of Quang Ninh province in February 2024; contributing to strengthening the friendly exchange relationship and comprehensive cooperation in all fields between Quang Ninh province (Vietnam) and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (China).
Mr. Pham Duc Thang, Chairman of Binh Lieu District People's Committee, said: The official opening of the bilateral border gate pair will help the locality have the motivation to develop border trade and tourism. In particular, customs clearance of goods will last 8 hours/day. Customs clearance procedures have been improved and will speed up customs clearance time as well as control goods passing through the area safely. With great potential and scale of development, in the coming time, Hoanh Mo border gate will become an important border gate in foreign economic exchange and border trade development. This is the orientation for the locality to expand investment in infrastructure, logistics in the border gate area, develop industries, support the border gate economic zone; is the motivation for us to improve the people's income and living standards...
Currently, the main export items at Hoanh Mo border gate include: paper base, acacia shell, rattan, star anise, cinnamon, pepper, cashew nuts, dried jackfruit, longan, dried tea...; the main imported goods are tiles, footwear, some auto spare parts... The total import-export turnover through this pair of border gates in the past 5 years has reached over 80 million USD/year. In the first 6 months of 2024 alone, the Hoanh Mo Border Gate Customs Branch has cleared nearly 2,100 declarations, with a turnover of over 64 million USD, and the budget revenue reached nearly 77 billion VND (an increase of 65% in the number of declarations and 40% in turnover, and 76% in budget revenue compared to the same period in 2023).
In addition to the advantages, import-export activities at the Hoanh Mo - Dong Trung bilateral border gate pair still face certain difficulties. For export goods, since the opening of the border gate, the Chinese side has only accepted agricultural products (acacia, cinnamon, star anise, baskets, etc.) in the form of border residents' import (worth 8,000 yuan/electric vehicle). For import goods, since the beginning of June 2024, the Chinese side has strictly controlled the size and tonnage of vehicles carrying imported goods to Vietnam and increased the inspection rate for all goods, especially consumer goods, leading to many businesses moving their procedures to other border gates.
At the Bac Phong Sinh - Ly Hoa customs clearance, it is forecasted that in the coming time, the volume of import and export goods will increase, while the infrastructure conditions and some construction items in the border gate area have been invested and built for a long time, are small in scale, have limited functions and do not fully meet the criteria prescribed in Decree No. 112/2014/ND-CP (dated January 21, 2014) of the Government regulating the management of land border gates (amended and supplemented in Decree No. 34/2023/ND-CP dated June 16, 2023 of the Government). Specifically: The parking area for loading and unloading import and export goods is a yard area attached to the border gate without a separate warehouse or yard system, without a separating fence; in the border gate area, there is no location with sufficient area and position to install equipment for customs inspection and supervision.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung, Deputy Head of Bac Phong Sinh Border Gate Customs Branch, shared: Regarding the policy mechanism, import and export goods and means of transport through Bac Phong Sinh - Ly Hoa customs clearance are subject to the same policies as for the Hoanh Mo - Dong Trung bilateral border gate. Vietnamese vehicles carrying goods are allowed to enter and exit China and vice versa; the types of import and export goods through the border gate are expanded. To make the most of the above policies, it is hoped that the province will continue to plan, invest in construction, expansion, and repair of infrastructure conditions such as: Inter-sectoral working house at the temporary bridge, goods inspection area, warehouses, yards, etc.; invest in synchronous and modern equipment towards the construction of digital border gates and smart border gates. At the same time, direct competent authorities to implement the implementation of import and export procedures for people crossing the border; Establish a focal point for information exchange with China to promptly provide information related to trade policies between the two sides to people and businesses.
Regarding the above shortcomings, from the perspective of enterprises, Mr. Tran Ngoc Quynh, representative of Mochi Quang Ninh Company Limited, said: The fact that the two sides' authorities put the Hoanh Mo - Dong Trung bilateral border gate pair and the Bac Phong Sinh - Ly Hoa customs clearance into operation has met the expectations of enterprises. However, to promote the development of border trade and tourism after this event, we hope that competent authorities will strengthen negotiations with the Chinese side to receive export items like other bilateral border gates such as: frozen seafood, fruits, processed and manufactured industrial products, etc.
It can be seen that, in order to promote the advantages of the Hoanh Mo - Dong Trung bilateral border gate pair and the Bac Phong Sinh (Vietnam) - Ly Hoa (China) customs clearance, the above limitations and shortcomings need to be promptly resolved by authorities at all levels and have investment strategies in upgrading infrastructure in the border gate area.
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