'Border gate infrastructure with China overloaded'

The demand for trade in goods between Vietnam and China is large, but infrastructure at border gates is overloaded, according to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

For nearly half a month, border gates in Lang Son, especially Huu Nghi International Border Gate, have had hundreds of agricultural vehicles waiting to be exported to China. The reason is that it is durian season, so there are many vehicles moving to Lang Son.

As of June 4, the number of vehicles stuck at the border gate was 677, including 495 fruit vehicles, mainly at the Huu Nghi International Border Gate. According to forecasts, in the coming time, when many other fruits are in season such as lychee, dragon fruit, etc., the number of agricultural product vehicles stuck at the border gate may continue to increase. Although Vietnam has had many solutions such as asking the neighboring country to work overtime and transfer customs clearance through another border gate, the situation of stuck vehicles still occurs.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam answered questions on the afternoon of June 5. Photo: Bao Thang — Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam answered questions on the afternoon of June 5. Photo: *Bao Thang*

Speaking to the press on the afternoon of June 5 after a working trip to China, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that there were many reasons for the congestion, including the currently overloaded infrastructure at the border gates between the two countries.

Mr. Nam said that Vietnamese agricultural products can meet the needs of China. However, part of the bottleneck also comes from the fragmented supply chain, with domestic businesses mainly retailing, finding their own suppliers on the Chinese side, and not connecting with the authorities.

"Businesses need to register with domestic authorities, let them know when they will be shipped and what products they will have to limit congestion at border gates. This also facilitates tracing raw material sources and growing area codes," said Mr. Nam.

To solve the congestion at the border gate, he assessed that there needs to be a roadmap, including the construction of a smart border gate - which Vietnam has asked China for support. "Smart border gate", on the Chinese side, according to Mr. Nam, is when the agricultural vehicle is 70 km from the border gate, they have already started the registration procedure, the vehicles are monitored remotely via the camera system.

Besides, it is also necessary to establish associations and build connections between businesses of the two countries, in the context that businesses mainly buy and sell retail, which can easily lead to disruption.

Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam said that in meetings last week, leaders of the two provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan (China) agreed to open more border gates to increase customs clearance capacity, but asked Vietnam to upgrade its infrastructure and ensure requirements for official exports. "China proposed upgrading to smart border gates, using digital technology to control the border gates," said Mr. Nam.

In the coming time, the two sides will also regularly exchange emails to quickly resolve procedures and move towards one-stop customs at the border. At the same time, organize annual and rotating trade promotion forums between Guangxi and Vietnam. Establish an agricultural business association, creating a playground for businesses of the two countries to build supply chains. Customs of the two countries will also have a conference to review professional work every November.

During the visit, Vietnam was also suggested to export seafood to Yunnan province because this province has no sea and has a huge demand. Currently, seafood is not open to the Chinese market through border gates.

According to Vietnam Customs data, in the first 4 months of 2023, Vietnam exported 3.14 billion USD worth of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to China, down 0.01% over the same period in 2022. Vietnam imported 939.7 million USD worth of agricultural products from China, down 0.16% over the same period in 2022.

Viet An

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