Vietnam Officially Joins ASEAN Single Window Customs System

HA NOI, 9 September 2015 – Viet Nam became the fifth ASEAN Member State to join the ASEAN Single Window live operation. At the opening ceremony of Viet Nam National Single Window Implementation and Technical Connection to ASEAN Single Window in Ha Noi yesterday, Secretary-General of ASEAN H.E. Le Luong Minh said it signifies the country’s commitment to ASEAN’s economic integration and community building process.

As Viet Nam is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the country's membership to ASEAN, Secretary-General Minh highlighted the significance of Viet Nam's National Single Window's connection to the ASEAN Single Window. He emphasized that National Single Windows are prerequisites of the ASEAN Single Window and play a vital role in meeting the trade facilitation objectives of governments which are to reduce clearance times at the border.

Further, Secretary-General Minh pointed out that the implementation of the ASEAN Single Window will not only promote the harmonisation of standards and conformance procedures, including enhancing intra-ASEAN preferential rules of origin procedures, but also facilitate coordination and partnership among customs administrations, the integration and transparency of customs procedures, the sharing of customs intelligence for improved and modernized risk management, and other concrete goals of the ASEAN Customs Vision 2015.

In addition, he said that Viet Nam’s participation in the current end-to-end test of the ASEAN Single Window’s enabling infrastructure in the exchange of the ATIGA Form D, together with the other four exchange-ready Member States, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore at a later stage, is a big motivation for the remaining Member States to join the ASEAN Single Window live operation targeted for the end of this year. It confirms the ability of a Member State to comply with the national level requirements in a limited time and fulfill its commitments at the regional level, contributing to the successful conclusion of the implementation of the full-fledged ASEAN Single Window Pilot Project Component 2, enhancing trade efficiency and competitiveness in the region in general and in Viet Nam in particular, marking a milestone in ASEAN's process of regional economic integration and Community building and consolidation.

H.E. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh, H.E. Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and Ambassadors of the ASEAN Member States to Viet Nam also attended the ceremony.