Phạm Thị Thu Hương, deputy director of the Personnel Department from Việt Nam Customs talks to Hải quan Cuối tuần (Customs Weekend) on her department’s efforts to improve their work efficiency with fewer staff

What are some of the main targets that the General Department of Việt Nam Customs has laid down in 2018 in its organisational restructuring?

The task of restructuring the General Department of Việt Nam Customs (GDVC) is one of the most important missions in the course of the sector’s reform and modernisation.

In 2016 the GDVC submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Finance to re-arrange its structure – particularly intermediary units within the GDVC and in Việt Nam Customs Offices around the country. One of the key objectives of the restructuring effort was to meet the new requirements of the policy of Việt Nam Automated Cargo and Port Consolidated System.

Thanks to these restructuring efforts, the GDVC was able to cut 37 office units.

By now I can say that the GDVC has basically eliminated the over-lapping tasks of varies departments. Thanks to that it has speeded up its reform process and the objective of modernising the sector.

According to plan the GDVC will complete its organisational restructuring by the end of the second quarter of 2018. Can you tell us some of the successes that the GDVC has achieved so far?

So far the GDVC has issued 24 decisions on the restructuring and streamlining of the sub-organisations in 24 provincial and city customs departments nationwide, reducing the amount of units from 373 to just 170.

For example, the Cà Mau Customs Department was able to cut half of their units – from 12 to 6, and the Hà Nội Customs Department was able to slash 18 units from its original 54.

All in all, by late June, some 200 customs units will have been slashed in all provincial and city customs departments.

What about the re-arrangement of the Sub-Customs General Department and the Customs General Department?

A road map for such a re-arrangement has already been worked out. For example, the re-arrangement at the sub-customs general department is expected to be completed in the 3^rd quarter of 2018. And for the Customs General Department, the re-arrangement is expected to happen in the last quarter of 2018.

It is a big demand that during the course of stream-lining the customs sector, all customs offices and departments have to do their utmost to improve their work efficiency and accountability. Do you think that the GDVC can accomplish their mission?

I’m confident that with what we have been doing so far, we’ll be able to accomplish all the missions assigned to us. By now I can say that new job assignments have been done well. However, in the long run we’ll organise more training courses for our staff to help them meet new requirements. — VNS